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Websphere PortalApplication · Ibm

CVE-2017-1698

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
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 WebSphere Portal 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 could reveal sensitive information from an error message that could lead to further attacks against the system. IBM X-Force ID: 124390.

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 WebSphere Portal versions 7.0 through 9.0 contains an information disclosure vulnerability where error messages reveal sensitive system information. This could aid attackers in crafting further exploits by exposing details about the system configuration, file paths, or other internal details through verbose error responses.

MitigationApply IBM WebSphere Portal security patches or configure custom error pages to sanitize error output and prevent disclosure of sensitive system details.

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
Websphere PortalApplication
Affected:= 7.0.0.0= 8.0.0.0= 8.5.0.0= 9.0.0.0

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 installed IBM WebSphere Portal version
    Access the WebSphere Portal Admin console or check the version file in the installation directory (typically in the PortalServer/version directory). The version can also be obtained via the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console under 'System Information' > 'Installation'.
    Affected if The installed version matches 7.0.0.0, 8.0.0.0, 8.5.0.0, or 9.0.0.0 exactly.
  2. Verify default error handling configuration
    Check the WebSphere Portal and WebSphere Application Server configuration for default error page settings. In the WebSphere Application Server Admin console, navigate to Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > server_name > Error handling > Error page configuration. Verify if the default IBM error pages are in use.
    Affected if Default IBM error pages are configured and no custom error handler has been implemented.
  3. Test for information disclosure in error responses
    Trigger a known error condition in the Portal (such as a malformed request, accessing a non-existent page, or triggering a validation error). Capture and inspect the HTTP response to determine if it reveals system information such as file paths, Java stack traces, server configuration details, or internal system identifiers.
    Affected if The error response contains sensitive system details including file paths, version information, stack traces, or configuration specifics.
  4. Review web.xml for error-page mappings
    Examine the web.xml deployment descriptor in the PortalServer/config directory for any custom error-page mappings. Look for <error-page> entries that specify custom error handling JSPs or servlets. If only default IBM error pages are present, the system may be vulnerable.
    Affected if No custom error-page mappings exist, or only default IBM error pages are configured.

You are affected if your IBM WebSphere Portal version is exactly 7.0.0.0, 8.0.0.0, 8.5.0.0, or 9.0.0.0 and error responses expose sensitive system information without custom error handling in place.

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 IBM WebSphere Portal security patches or configure custom error pages to sanitize error output and prevent disclosure of sensitive system details.

Fix this in Websphere Portal Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2017-1698 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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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