CVE-2012-3338
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 · uneditedIBM InfoSphere Guardium 8.0, 8.01, and 8.2 could allow a remote attacker to bypass security restrictions, caused by improper restrictions on the create new user account functionality. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to create unprivileged user accounts. IBM X-Force ID: 78286.
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 confidenceIBM InfoSphere Guardium versions 8.0 through 8.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability in the new user account creation functionality. The create user endpoint lacks proper access control restrictions, allowing remote unauthenticated or low-privileged attackers to create arbitrary user accounts in the system.
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= 8.0= 8.01= 8.2CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify installed Guardium versionRun the command to display the Guardium version, typically via CLI (grdapi version) or the web UI system info pageAffected if The installed version is 8.0, 8.01, or 8.2 exactly (these are the affected versions per the CVE)
-
Verify create user endpoint accessibilityCheck if the user creation API/endpoint (typically /guardium/ user/create or similar administrative API path) is exposed and accessible without authentication from the networkAffected if The endpoint responds without requiring valid administrative credentials or session authentication
-
Review user accounts for unauthorized creationsQuery the Guardium user database or use the admin UI to list all user accounts, focusing on creation dates and creatorsAffected if Unexpected user accounts exist that were not created by known administrators, especially accounts with administrative privileges
-
Examine audit logs for user creation eventsSearch Guardium audit logs for user creation events, particularly from source IPs outside expected admin networks or during unexpected timeframesAffected if Log entries show user accounts created by unauthenticated requests, from non-admin IPs, or by low-privileged users
You are affected if your Guardium installation is version 8.0, 8.01, or 8.2 AND the user creation endpoint is exposed without proper authorization controls, indicated by unexpected user accounts in the system or suspicious user creation log entries.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied patches or upgrade to a Guardium version beyond 8.2 that addresses the improper authorization checks on user account creation. If patching is not immediately possible, restrict network access to administrative interfaces and monitor for unauthorized account creation events.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-3338 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-3338 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data