CVE-2015-1921
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 · uneditedOpen redirect vulnerability in IBM WebSphere Portal 8.0.0 before 8.0.0.1 CF17 and 8.5.0 before CF06 allows remote attackers to redirect users to arbitrary web sites and conduct phishing attacks via a crafted URL.
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 confidenceOpen redirect vulnerability in IBM WebSphere Portal allows remote attackers to craft malicious URLs that redirect users to arbitrary external websites. The vulnerability exists in versions 8.0.0 before CF17 and 8.5.0 before CF06, enabling phishing attacks by abusing the portal's redirect functionality.
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= 8.0.0.0= 8.0.0.1= 8.5.0.0CVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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.
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Identify installed IBM WebSphere Portal versionAccess the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console, navigate to 'About WebSphere Portal' or check the version file in the PortalServer-root directory. Alternatively, run 'versionInfo.bat' or 'versionInfo.sh' from the bin directory.Affected if The installed version is 8.0.0.0, 8.0.0.1, or 8.5.0.0 without the corresponding CF (Cumulative Fix) update applied (CF17 for 8.0.x, CF06 for 8.5.x).
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Determine if Portal Cumulative Fix levelIn the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console, check the 'Fix Pack' or 'Cumulative Fix' level displayed in the portal version information. Compare against the required CF17 for 8.0.x or CF06 for 8.5.x.Affected if The Cumulative Fix level is below CF17 for version 8.0.0.x or below CF06 for version 8.5.0.x.
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Verify redirect parameter accessibilityInspect WebSphere Portal URL patterns that accept redirect parameters such as 'redirect' or 'URL' in query strings. Check the PortalURLMapping configuration in the WebSphere Portal Admin console under 'Portal Settings' > 'Virtual Portals' or through the XML configuration interface.Affected if The portal accepts unvalidated redirect parameters in URLs without strict allowlist validation configured.
A system is affected if it runs IBM WebSphere Portal version 8.0.0.0, 8.0.0.1, or 8.5.0.0 without the respective Cumulative Fix (CF17 or CF06) applied, and the redirect functionality is accessible via URL parameters.
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 dataUpgrade IBM WebSphere Portal to version 8.0.0.1 CF17 or later, or 8.5.0 CF06 or later. Alternatively, implement URL validation and allowlist controls on redirect parameters.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-1921 — 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-2015-1921 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
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- 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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