When you change your password, do you expect to be truly protected? Many of us do. Unfortunately, a recent vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-26288 found in IBM Aspera Orchestrator 4..1 proves otherwise. In this post, I’ll break down the bug, show code sample concepts, demonstrate the exploit, and help you understand why session invalidation matters so much.

What is IBM Aspera Orchestrator?

IBM Aspera Orchestrator is a web-based application designed to automate and manage file transfers and workflows, widely used where moving large data securely and quickly is essential.

The Vulnerability Explained

CVE-2023-26288 (IBM X-Force ID: 248477) highlights a fundamental flaw: When a user changes their password, their session is not invalidated. In simple terms, if you—or anyone using your session—were logged in before the password change, you can both stay logged in after. This goes against best security practices and opens the door for attackers.

If an attacker has hijacked your session, a password change should instantly kick them out.

- If this doesn’t happen, they stay logged in and can keep on performing actions as you, even after you thought you fixed things.

Let me illustrate the general flow with some pseudo-code

# (Pseudocode for illustration purposes)
def change_password(user_id, new_password):
    # 1. Update the password in the database
    users_db[user_id]['password'] = hash(new_password)
    # 2. (Missing Step) Should log out all sessions for this user
    # sessions.invalidate_all(user_id)

def authenticate(session_token):
    session = get_session(session_token)
    if session and not session.is_expired():
        return True
    return False

In IBM Aspera Orchestrator 4..1, step 2 is missing. Existing sessions remain valid!

Let’s see how an attacker might use this vulnerability

1. Attacker steals a session (for example, via XSS, phishing, or sniffing).
2. Victim notices odd activity and decides to change the password.
3. Victim changes the password thinking this will “log out” all other sessions.

Imagine Aspera Orchestrator uses simple session cookies, the attacker could do

import requests

session = requests.Session()
session.cookies.set('SessionID', 'stolen-session-id')

# Still works after password change:
response = session.get('https://aspera.server/orchestrator/dashboard';)
print(response.text)  # Output: Dashboard page, still logged in!

Correct code snippet

def change_password(user_id, new_password):
    users_db[user_id]['password'] = hash(new_password)
    # Now, properly log out all sessions
    sessions.invalidate_all(user_id)

If you are an admin:
Upgrade to the latest fixed version, and remind users to log out everywhere after a password change until patching.

Official References and Advisory

- IBM X-Force Exchange: CVE-2023-26288
- IBM Security Bulletin: IBM Aspera Orchestrator security vulnerability

Why This Matters

It’s not rocket science—protecting sessions is Security 101. If a system doesn’t expire all user sessions after something important (like a password change), it’s not doing its job. Attackers love these oversights because it only takes one compromised session to take over.

Takeaway:
If you use IBM Aspera Orchestrator 4..1, update immediately. If you’re a developer building your own app, always make sure to expire sessions after a password reset or account change.

Stay safe out there!

*Have questions or want more technical deep-dives like this? Let me know in the comments or reach out directly!*

Timeline

Published on: 07/30/2024 17:15:11 UTC
Last modified on: 07/31/2024 12:57:02 UTC