Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-49817

Exposed Creds in Ibm Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.1.0 … 4.2.1

Exposed Creds
Published
17 December 2024
Modified
07 January 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0019 9th percentile
Risk Priority 34 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-49817 is a medium-severity Password in Configuration File (CWE-260) vulnerability in Ibm Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager. Its CVSS base score is 4.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Unsecured Credentials (T1552); ranked at the 9th 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 SC-28 (Protection of Information at Rest) and SC-8 (Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A02:2025 Security MisconfigurationA06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2.0, and 4.2.1 stores user credentials in configuration files which can be read by a local privileged user.

CWE(s)
CWE-260CWE-522

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1552 Unsecured Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may search compromised systems to find and obtain insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.001 Credentials In Files Credential Access
Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021 Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1114.002 Remote Email Collection Collection
Adversaries may target an Exchange server, Office 365, or Google Workspace to collect sensitive information.
attack.mitre.org →
T1550.003 Pass the Ticket Lateral Movement
Adversaries may “pass the ticket” using stolen Kerberos tickets to move laterally within an environment, bypassing normal system access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-49816Same product: Ibm Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager
CVE-2024-49820Same product: Ibm Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager
CVE-2024-49819Same product: Ibm Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager
CVE-2024-49818Same product: Ibm Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager
CVE-2025-33093Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2023-47722Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2025-36096Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2024-41770Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2023-25686Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2024-40704Same vendor: Ibm

Affected Assets

ibm
security guardium key lifecycle manager
4.1.0, 4.1.1, 4.2.0, 4.2.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V11.3.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SC-28 Protection of Information at Rest good match

Protection of information at rest requires encryption or equivalent safeguards for stored credentials.

SC-8 Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity good match

Transmission confidentiality and integrity enforcement stops credentials from being sent in plaintext or without protection.

AC-3 Access Enforcement partial match

AC-3 enforces access authorizations on system resources including config files, preventing unauthorized actors from reaching the stored password.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

AC-6 applies least privilege so fewer processes or users can read the config file containing the password, shrinking exposure without eliminating the storage practice.

IA-5 Authenticator Management partial match

IA-5 requires storing authenticators so they are protected from unauthorized disclosure, directly stopping plaintext passwords in config files.

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 full match
prevents

Encrypting data-at-rest fully prevents insecure credential storage while only partially satisfying the broader data-protection outcome.

PR.DS-02 full match
prevents

Encrypting data-in-transit fully prevents interception of credentials in motion while only partially satisfying the broader data-protection outcome.

PR.AA-01 mostly match
prevents

Credential management practices directly reduce insecure storage/transmission but do not guarantee encryption or transport protection.

PR.AA-04 mostly match
prevents

Protecting identity assertions covers conveyance of credentials but is narrower than full credential lifecycle protection.

PR.PS-01 mostly match
prevents

Secure configuration baselines explicitly disallow plaintext secrets in files.

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

Authentication policies can enforce stronger credential handling yet address only verification, not storage or transit protection.

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.5.17 Authentication information mostly match
prevents

Requiring protected storage, transmission, and non-display of passwords prevents credentials from being stored or sent in clear text where they can be harvested by unauthorized actors.

A.8.24 Use of cryptography mostly match
prevents

Protecting secret and private keys against disclosure and unauthorized use decreases the exposure of credentials that are stored or transmitted in recoverable form.

A.8.5 Secure authentication mostly match
prevents

Forbidding clear-text transmission and display of passwords, plus the use of stronger alternatives to passwords, prevents credentials from being obtained or reused by attackers.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

Configuration management processes can enforce removal of secrets from config files, but the control is broader.

A.5.10 Acceptable use of information and other associated assets partial match
prevents

Acceptable-use expectations that cover protection of credentials and information assets throughout their lifecycle discourage practices that expose or mishandle authentication material.

A.6.2 Terms and conditions of employment partial match
prevents

Contractual clauses that survive termination help ensure that credentials and other secrets are not retained or misused after employment ends.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204620 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server package installed unless needed. prevents CWE-260

References