dbcve.org
Rational ClearquestApplication · Ibm

CVE-2016-2922

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-08-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.0.1.3 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
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
IBM Rational ClearQuest 8.0 through 8.0.1.9 and 9.0 through 9.0.1.3 (CQ OSLC linkages, EmailRelay) fails to check the SSL certificate against the requested hostname. It is subject to a man-in-the-middle attack with an impersonating server observing all the data transmitted to the real server. IBM X-Force ID: 113353.

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 Rational ClearQuest fails to validate SSL certificate hostnames in CQ OSLC linkages and EmailRelay components. This allows man-in-the-middle attackers to intercept encrypted communications by presenting a valid certificate for a different domain, because the application does not verify the certificate matches the requested hostname.

MitigationEnable SSL certificate hostname verification in the affected components (OSLC linkages and EmailRelay) or upgrade to a patched version if available from IBM.

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
Rational ClearquestApplication
Affected:>= 8.0.0.0, <= 8.0.0.21>= 8.0.1.0, <= 8.0.1.17>= 9.0.0.0, <= 9.0.0.6>= 9.0.1.0, <= 9.0.1.3

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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. Identify the installed ClearQuest version
    Open the ClearQuest client, go to Help > About IBM Rational ClearQuest, or run 'cqversion' from the ClearQuest bin directory. You can also check the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Rational\ClearQuest\Install for the ProductVersion value.
    Affected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 8.0.0.0 through 8.0.0.21, 8.0.1.0 through 8.0.1.17, 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.0.6, or 9.0.1.0 through 9.1.0.3.
  2. Determine if OSLC linkages are configured
    Check if OSLC linking is enabled in your ClearQuest environment. Look for OSLC configuration files such as cqoslc.conf or oslc_config.xml in the ClearQuest installation directory or configuration folder. In the ClearQuest Web UI, navigate to the OSLC linking configuration area under the administration settings.
    Affected if OSLC linkages are configured and the ClearQuest version is within the affected ranges listed above.
  3. Check EmailRelay configuration
    Examine the EmailRelay settings in ClearQuest. The configuration is typically found in the ClearQuest Email configuration or in a cqemail.conf or relay configuration file within the ClearQuest installation or config directories. Access this through ClearQuest Administrator > Email Settings or by locating the configuration files directly.
    Affected if EmailRelay is configured and the ClearQuest version is within the affected ranges listed above.
  4. Verify SSL hostname validation is disabled
    Inspect the OSLC and EmailRelay configuration files for SSL-related settings. Look for parameters such as 'ssl_verify_hostname', 'validate_ssl_cert', or similar settings that control certificate hostname verification. These are typically boolean flags where a value of 'false' or '0' indicates verification is disabled.
    Affected if SSL certificate hostname verification is explicitly disabled (set to false or 0) or absent in the OSLC or EmailRelay configuration, meaning the application accepts certificates for any hostname.

You are affected if your ClearQuest version is 8.0.0.0-8.0.0.21, 8.0.1.0-8.0.1.17, 9.0.0.0-9.0.0.6, or 9.1.0.0-9.1.0.3 and you have OSLC linkages or EmailRelay configured with SSL hostname verification disabled.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 9.0.1.3
Interim mitigation

Enable SSL certificate hostname verification in the affected components (OSLC linkages and EmailRelay) or upgrade to a patched version if available from IBM.

Fix this in Rational Clearquest 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2922 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-2922 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data