Identity ManagerApplication · Netiq

CVE-2017-9280

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.5.6.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Some NetIQ Identity Manager Applications before Identity Manager 4.5.6.1 included the session token in GET URLs, potentially allowing exposure of user sessions to untrusted third parties via proxies, referer urls or similar.

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

NetIQ Identity Manager Applications before version 4.5.6.1 transmit session tokens as URL parameters in GET requests instead of using secure transmission methods like HTTP headers or POST bodies. This exposes session credentials through browser history, proxy server logs, and Referer headers to untrusted third parties, potentially allowing session hijacking.

MitigationUpgrade to Identity Manager 4.5.6.1 or later, which implements secure session token handling. Additionally, enforce HTTPS exclusively and review proxy/access logs for any historical exposure of session tokens in URLs.

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
Identity ManagerApplication
Affected:< 4.5.6.1

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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. Determine installed Identity Manager version
    Locate the Identity Manager installation and check the version. This is typically available in the product's about page, release notes, or installation directory metadata. Compare the version number against the affected range (versions prior to 4.5.6.1).
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.5.6.1
  2. Verify session token transmission method
    Log into the Identity Manager web interface and observe the browser address bar after authentication. Look for session identifiers, tokens, or session IDs appearing as URL parameters (e.g., ?sessionid=xxx or ?token=xxx).
    Affected if Session tokens appear in the URL after login
  3. Inspect network traffic for token exposure
    Use browser developer tools (Network tab) or a proxy tool to capture HTTP traffic during login and subsequent requests. Examine GET request URLs to determine if session credentials are being transmitted as query parameters.
    Affected if GET requests contain session identifiers in the URL query string
  4. Review stored logs for token leakage
    Examine proxy server logs, access logs, or browser history where the Identity Manager application has been accessed. Search for patterns where session tokens may have been recorded in URLs.
    Affected if Historical logs or browser history contains Identity Manager session tokens in URL parameters

You are affected if NetIQ Identity Manager version is below 4.5.6.1 AND session tokens are visible in browser URLs or stored in logs during normal application use.

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 4.5.6.1 or later
Fixed in 4.5.6.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Identity Manager 4.5.6.1 or later, which implements secure session token handling. Additionally, enforce HTTPS exclusively and review proxy/access logs for any historical exposure of session tokens in URLs.

Fix this in Identity Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2017-9280 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data