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Curam Social Program ManagementApplication · Ibm

CVE-2014-8903

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-08-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
IBM Curam Social Program Management 6.0 SP2 before EP26, 6.0.4 before 6.0.4.5iFix10 and 6.0.5 before 6.0.5.6 allows remote authenticated users to load arbitrary Java classes via unspecified vectors.

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 Curam Social Program Management contains a Java deserialization vulnerability that allows authenticated remote users to instantiate arbitrary Java classes. This is a critical class-loading flaw that can lead to remote code execution. The vulnerability exists in multiple version branches (6.0 SP2, 6.0.4, and 6.0.5) prior to their respective patched releases.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches: upgrade to Curam 6.0 SP2 EP26, 6.0.4.5iFix10, or 6.0.5.6 or later. Verify that serialization/deserialization controls are properly configured in the Java runtime environment.

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
Curam Social Program ManagementApplication
Affected:= 6.0= 6.0.4.0= 6.0.4.1= 6.0.4.2= 6.0.4.3= 6.0.4.4= 6.0.4.5= 6.0.4.6= 6.0.4.7= 6.0.4.8= 6.0.4.9= 6.0.5

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
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify installed IBM Curam version
    Locate the Curam installation directory and check version files (typically in the installation root or within application configuration files). Common locations include version.properties, about.html, or the installation log. Alternatively, access the Curam Administration console and navigate to System Information or About pages.
    Affected if The installed version matches 6.0, any 6.0.4.x version from 6.0.4.0 through 6.0.4.9, or 6.0.5 (without the vendor patches)
  2. Confirm version falls within affected range
    Compare the identified version against the affected list: 6.0, 6.0.4.0-6.0.4.9, or 6.0.5. If the version is 6.0 SP2 (pre-EP26), 6.0.4.x (pre-iFix10), or 6.0.5 (pre-6), the system is in the affected range.
    Affected if The version is 6.0 SP2 before EP26, any 6.0.4.x before iFix10, or 6.0.5 before version 6
  3. Determine if web application interface is exposed
    Check if the Curam web application is accessible over HTTP/HTTPS. Look at the application server configuration (typically WebSphere or similar) to verify if the Curam endpoints are bound to a network interface that accepts remote connections.
    Affected if The Curam web interface is exposed to network access, as the vulnerability requires remote authenticated users to send malicious serialized Java objects
  4. Verify Java deserialization endpoints are active
    Review application server logs and configuration for deserialization endpoints. The vulnerability exploits Java ObjectInputStream deserialization. Check if the Curam server processes serialized Java objects from remote clients.
    Affected if The server accepts and deserializes Java objects from remote authenticated requests without strict validation controls

A user is affected if their IBM Curam installation version is 6.0 SP2 (before EP26), 6.0.4.x (before iFix10), or 6.0.5 (before version 6), and the web interface is exposed to remote authenticated users.

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

Apply the vendor-supplied patches: upgrade to Curam 6.0 SP2 EP26, 6.0.4.5iFix10, or 6.0.5.6 or later. Verify that serialization/deserialization controls are properly configured in the Java runtime environment.

Fix this in Curam Social Program Management Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,720
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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-2014-8903 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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