CVE-2024-52902
📋 TL;DR
IBM Cognos Controller and IBM Controller client applications contain hard-coded database passwords in their source code, allowing attackers to gain unauthorized access to database systems. This affects organizations using IBM Cognos Controller 11.0.0 through 11.0.1 FP3 and IBM Controller 11.1.0 client applications.
💻 Affected Systems
- IBM Cognos Controller
- IBM Controller
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain full administrative access to the database, leading to data theft, data manipulation, or complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Unauthorized database access resulting in data exfiltration or privilege escalation within the database environment.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if database is isolated with strong network segmentation and additional authentication layers.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires access to source code or reverse engineering of client binaries to extract credentials.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: IBM Cognos Controller 11.0.1 FP4 and later, IBM Controller 11.1.1
Vendor Advisory: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7183597
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Download and install IBM Cognos Controller 11.0.1 FP4 or later from IBM Fix Central. 2. For IBM Controller, upgrade to version 11.1.1. 3. Apply patches to all affected client installations.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Database Credential Rotation
allChange database passwords that match the hard-coded values to prevent credential reuse attacks.
ALTER USER [username] IDENTIFIED BY '[new_password]';
Network Segmentation
allRestrict database access to only trusted IP addresses and implement firewall rules.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate database servers from untrusted networks.
- Deploy database activity monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check installed version of IBM Cognos Controller or IBM Controller client. Versions 11.0.0 through 11.0.1 FP3 for Cognos Controller, or 11.1.0 for IBM Controller are vulnerable.Check Version:
For Windows: Check 'Programs and Features' in Control Panel. For Linux: Check installation directory for version files.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify installation of IBM Cognos Controller 11.0.1 FP4 or later, or IBM Controller 11.1.1. Check that hard-coded credentials are no longer present in client binaries.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual database login attempts using default/hard-coded credentials
- Failed authentication attempts followed by successful logins from unexpected sources
Network Indicators:
- Database connection attempts from unauthorized client IP addresses
- Unencrypted database traffic containing hard-coded credentials
SIEM Query:
source="database_logs" AND (event_type="authentication" AND (username="hardcoded_user" OR status="success" FROM unexpected_ip))