CVE-2015-2009
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 · uneditedCross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the xmlrpc.cgi service in IBM QRadar SIEM 7.1 before MR2 Patch 11 Interim Fix 02 and 7.2.x before 7.2.5 Patch 4 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that insert XSS sequences via vectors related to webmin. IBM X-Force ID: 103921.
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 confidenceCSRF vulnerability in IBM QRadar SIEM's xmlrpc.cgi service allows remote attackers to hijack authentication of arbitrary users and inject XSS sequences through webmin-related vectors. Affects versions 7.1 before MR2 Patch 11 Interim Fix 02 and 7.2.x before 7.2.5 Patch 4.
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>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.5= 7.1.0= 7.2.5CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify QRadar SIEM versionAccess the QRadar admin console and navigate to the 'About' or 'System Settings' page to view the installed version, or run 'qradar_version' command via console if you have SSH access.Affected if The installed version is 7.1.0 (any patch level before MR2 Patch 11 Interim Fix 02), or is 7.2.0 through 7.2.5 (without Patch 4 applied).
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Confirm xmlrpc.cgi endpoint is accessibleAttempt to access https://<qradar_host>/xmlrpc.cgi via a web browser or curl command from an authorized location. A successful HTTP 200 response indicates the endpoint is active.Affected if The endpoint returns a valid response, meaning the xmlrpc.cgi service is exposed and the attack surface exists.
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Verify webmin module statusCheck if webmin is enabled on the QRadar system by reviewing the /etc/webmin/config file (if accessible) or through the QRadar admin console under 'System Configuration' > 'System Services'.Affected if Webmin is currently enabled or running on the QRadar instance, as the XSS vectors are associated with webmin-related components.
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Inspect CSRF token implementation in xmlrpc.cgiReview the xmlrpc.cgi script source code or configuration for presence of CSRF token validation logic. This may require console access to locate the CGI script and grep for 'csrf' or 'token' patterns.Affected if No CSRF token validation is found in the xmlrpc.cgi implementation, indicating the mitigation is not applied.
You are affected if your QRadar version falls within 7.1.0 or 7.2.0-7.2.5 without respective patches, AND xmlrpc.cgi is accessible, AND webmin is enabled, AND CSRF protection is missing from xmlrpc.cgi.
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 data7.2.5
Apply vendor patches: MR2 Patch 11 Interim Fix 02 for QRadar 7.1 or 7.2.5 Patch 4 for QRadar 7.2.x. Additionally, implement CSRF tokens in xmlrpc.cgi and disable webmin if unused.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-2009 — 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-2015-2009 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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