Security Bulletin: Default Password Requirements are weak on new installations of IBM Maximo Asset Management (CVE-2015-1934)

Summary

On new installations of Maximo Asset Management, default password requirements are weak. The vulnerability has been fixed for new installations of Maximo Asset Management. Customers are advised to protect existing installations by strengthening password requirements via instructions in the Workarounds and Mitigations section of this document.

The vulnerability affects Maximo Asset Management, Maximo Asset Management Essentials, Maximo Industry Solutions (including Maximo for Energy Optimization, Maximo for Government, Maximo for Nuclear Power, Maximo for Transportation, Maximo for Life Sciences, Maximo for Oil and Gas, and Maximo for Utilities), SmartCloud Control Desk, Tivoli Asset Management for IT, Tivoli Service Request Manager, and Change and Configuration Management Database.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2015-1934
DESCRIPTION: IBM Maximo Asset Management uses weaker than expected security when encrypting passwords. This could allow an attacker to bypass security and obtain passwords with decrypting tools.
CVSS Base Score: 5
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/102976&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

1. Maximo Asset Management 7.6, 7.5, 7.1
2. Maximo Asset Management Essentials 7.5, 7.1
3. Maximo for Energy Optimization 7.1
4. Maximo for Government 7.5, 7.1
5. Maximo for Nuclear Power 7.5, 7.1
6. Maximo for Transportation 7.5, 7.1
7. Maximo for Life Sciences 7.5, 7.1
8. Maximo for Oil and Gas 7.5, 7.1
9. Maximo for Utilities 7.5, 7.1
10. SmartCloud Control Desk 7.5
11. Tivoli Asset Management for IT 7.2, 7.1
12. Tivoli Service Request Manager 7.2, 7.1
13. Change and Configuration Management Database 7.2, 7.1

Remediation/Fixes

For new installations, the recommended solution is to download the appropriate Interim Fix or Fix Pack from Fix Central (What is Fix Central?) and apply for each affected product. Please see below for information on the fixes available for each product, version, and release. Follow the installation instructions in the ‘readme’ documentation provided with each fix pack or interim fix.

For Maximo Asset Management, Maximo Asset Management Essentials and Maximo Industry Solutions 7.6, 7.5, 7.1:

For SmartCloud Control Desk 7.6, 7.5:

For Tivoli IT Asset Management for IT, Tivoli Service Request Manager, and Change and Configuration Management Database 7.2, 7.1:

Workarounds and Mitigations

1. Log in as a user with permissions to modify Security settings.

2. From the List tab of the Security Groups or Users application, select the action Security Controls to open the Security Controls dialog.

3. On the dialog, in the section Password Requirements, increase the Minimum Password Length to at least 8.

4. On the dialog, in the section Required Password Characters, check the following three options:
- Must Include an Uppercase Character?
- Must Include a Lowercase Character?
- Must Include a Number?

5. Optionally check the following option for additional security:
- Must Include a Special Character (!, @, #, $, etc.)?

6. Click OK to save the changes and close the dialog.