Security Resilience

CVE-2023-38738

Ibm Openpages With Watson 8.3 – 8.3.0.2.7

Published
19 January 2024
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0053 43th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-38738 is a medium-severity Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format (CWE-257) vulnerability in Ibm Openpages With Watson. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 43th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-5 (Authenticator Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

IBM OpenPages with Watson 8.3 and 9.0 could provide weaker than expected security in a OpenPages environment using Native authentication. If OpenPages is using Native authentication an attacker with access to the OpenPages database could through a series of specially…

more

crafted steps could exploit this weakness and gain unauthorized access to other OpenPages accounts. IBM X-Force ID: 262594.

CWE(s)
CWE-257

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
T1014 Rootkit Stealth
Adversaries may use rootkits to hide the presence of programs, files, network connections, services, drivers, and other system components.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may look for details about the network configuration and settings, such as IP and/or MAC addresses, of systems they access or through information discovery of remote systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-35117Same product: Ibm Openpages With Watson
CVE-2023-40683Same product: Ibm Openpages With Watson
CVE-2023-22878Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-24964Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-47704Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-27555Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-21726Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-25930Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-29255Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-28793Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

ibm
openpages with watson
9.0 · 8.3 — 8.3.0.2.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V11.4.2
  • V11.4.4

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

IA-5 requires proper management of authenticators including storage of passwords only in non-recoverable (hashed) form, directly stopping the weakness from existing.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.DS-01 partial match
blocks

Protecting data-at-rest with cryptographic hashes directly prevents recoverable password storage.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices include requirements for non-recoverable password storage.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
blocks

A.5.17's password management system requirements (h: store/transmit in protected form; approved crypto per 8.24; no recoverable formats implied by strong practices) stop exploitation of recoverable storage for most cases, but the remainder (non-password auth info or systems outside the password management system) is nameable.

A.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems partial match
removes
A.8.24 Use of cryptography partial match
degrades

Requires proper use of cryptography, which can mitigate recoverable storage if applied correctly to passwords.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
blocks

A.8.25 requires that security be designed and implemented in the SDLC (including secure coding, requirements, testing and training), but does not itself stop a recoverable-format password from being written into the product or stop that stored password from being exploited afterwards

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
removes

A.8.26 only requires that recoverable-format storage be identified as a risk and specified as a requirement; it does not itself mandate, design or implement non-recoverable storage, so the flaw (passwords stored in recoverable form) can still exist after the control is satisfied.

References