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Websphere Commerce SuiteApplication · Ibm

CVE-2009-2956

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-08-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The (1) Net.Commerce and (2) Net.Data components in IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite store sensitive information under the web root with insufficient access control, which allows remote attackers to discover passwords, and database and filesystem details, via direct requests for configuration files.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite Net.Commerce and Net.Data components store sensitive configuration files (containing passwords, database credentials, and filesystem paths) under the web root without proper access controls. Remote attackers can directly request these files to harvest sensitive information used for further attacks.

MitigationRelocate sensitive configuration files outside the web root directory and implement proper file system permissions to prevent unauthenticated access. Alternatively, remove or rename exposed configuration files if they are not required for web serving.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Websphere Commerce SuiteApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite installation
    Search for IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite or Net.Commerce/Net.Data components on the system. Check common installation directories such as /opt/ibm/commerce or C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere Commerce. Look for the nchandler.exe (Net.Commerce) or net.data.exe (Net.Data) processes running on the server.
    Affected if The product is installed and contains Net.Commerce or Net.Data components.
  2. Identify the web root directory
    Locate the web server document root configured for Net.Commerce or Net.Data. This is typically defined in the NetCommerce or NetData configuration files, often in a config subdirectory or the main installation directory.
    Affected if A web root directory is configured for the Net.Commerce or Net.Data web server.
  3. Enumerate configuration files under the web root
    List all files in the identified web root directory and any subdirectories. Look for files with extensions such as .ini, .cfg, .conf, .xml, .dat, or configuration files with names suggesting sensitive content (e.g., containing words like password, config, db, credentials).
    Affected if Sensitive configuration files (containing passwords, database credentials, or filesystem paths) exist under the web root.
  4. Test unauthenticated HTTP access to configuration files
    Using a web browser or curl/wget, attempt to directly request the identified configuration files via HTTP without providing any authentication. For example: http://<server>/<config-file-name>. If the file content is returned in the response, the file is accessible.
    Affected if Configuration files can be retrieved via HTTP without authentication, exposing sensitive contents.

If IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite with Net.Commerce or Net.Data is running and sensitive configuration files containing passwords, database credentials, or filesystem paths are accessible via direct HTTP requests without authentication, the environment is affected by CVE-2009-2956.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Relocate sensitive configuration files outside the web root directory and implement proper file system permissions to prevent unauthenticated access. Alternatively, remove or rename exposed configuration files if they are not required for web serving.

Fix this in Websphere Commerce Suite Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-2956 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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