CVE-2023-50945
📋 TL;DR
IBM Common Licensing 9.0 stores user credentials in plain text, allowing local users to read sensitive authentication data. This affects systems running IBM Common Licensing 9.0 where local users have access to credential storage locations.
💻 Affected Systems
- IBM Common Licensing
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Local attackers gain administrative credentials, leading to complete system compromise, data theft, and lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local users or malware with local access can harvest credentials for privilege escalation or credential reuse attacks.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls, only authorized administrators can access credential storage, limiting exposure.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access to read plain text credential files; no special tools needed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Apply fix from IBM Security Bulletin
Vendor Advisory: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7161947
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Review IBM Security Bulletin. 2. Apply the recommended fix or upgrade. 3. Restart affected services. 4. Verify credentials are no longer stored in plain text.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict File Permissions
linuxLimit access to credential storage files to authorized users only.
chmod 600 /path/to/credential/files
chown root:root /path/to/credential/files
Audit Local User Access
allReview and restrict local user accounts to minimize exposure.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls to limit local user access to credential storage locations.
- Monitor for unauthorized access attempts to credential files and review local user activities.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if IBM Common Licensing 9.0 is installed and inspect credential storage files for plain text content.Check Version:
Check IBM Common Licensing version via product documentation or system logs.Verify Fix Applied:
After patching, verify that credentials are encrypted or hashed and not stored in plain text.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized access attempts to credential files
- Changes in file permissions for credential storage
Network Indicators:
- Unusual local user activity patterns
SIEM Query:
Search for file access events to credential storage paths by non-admin users.