CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-4314 — It is possible to manipulate the JWT token without the knowledge of the JWT secret and authenticate without valid JWT token as any user

Medium CVSS 5.3

It is possible to manipulate the JWT token without the knowledge of the JWT secret and authenticate without valid JWT token as any user. This is happening only in the situation when zOSMF doesn’t have the APAR PH12143 applied. This issue affects: 1.16 versions to 1.19. What happens is that the services using the ZAAS client or the API ML API to query will be deceived into believing the information in the JWT token is valid when it isn’t. It’s possible to use this to persuade the southbound service that different user is authenticated.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.3 (3.1)
Published
2023-01-18
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-269, CWE-287

Affected products

  • linuxfoundation / zowe_api_mediation_layer

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

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Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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