CVE-2017-1788
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 · uneditedIBM WebSphere Application Server 9 installations using Form Login could allow a remote attacker to conduct spoofing attacks. IBM X-Force ID: 137031.
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 · moderate confidenceIBM WebSphere Application Server 9 installations using Form Login authentication contain a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to conduct spoofing attacks, potentially enabling session hijacking or authentication bypass through the login form mechanism.
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>= 9.0.0.0, <= 9.0.0.7CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check the installed WebSphere Application Server versionRun the versionInfo command (bin/versionInfo.sh on Linux/Unix or bin\versionInfo.bat on Windows) or access the Admin Console and navigate to Installation > Product Information to view the exact version number.Affected if The version displayed falls within the range 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.0.7 (inclusive).
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Verify Form Login authentication is configuredExamine the application's deployment descriptor (web.xml) for a <login-config> element with <auth-method> set to FORM, or check the ibm-web-ext.xml file for a <form-login-config> element. This can also be reviewed via the Admin Console under Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications > [app] > Security role to user/group mapping > Login properties.Affected if A login-config with auth-method FORM is defined, indicating Form-based authentication is enabled for the application.
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Check the login form configuration for security attributesReview the login form JSP or HTML to verify whether security attributes such as CSRF token validation, secure session cookie flags, and form token mechanisms are properly implemented. Inspect the web.xml for any security constraints applied to the login form URL.Affected if The login form lacks CSRF protection mechanisms, secure session configuration, or form token validation, making it vulnerable to the spoofing attack described in the CVE.
A user is affected if they are running WebSphere Application Server version 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.0.7 AND have applications configured with Form-based login authentication that lack additional security controls like CSRF tokens.
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 dataReview and harden the Form Login configuration in WebSphere Application Server 9; implement additional security controls such as CSRF tokens, secure session management, and proper authentication flow validation. Consider consulting IBM security bulletins for available patches.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1788 — 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-2017-1788 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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