# CVE-2018-1791: Server-side request forgery in Connections

> An attacker can exploit improper validation to induce the IBM Connections server to attack other systems via external service interaction.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.0/A:L/AC:H/AV:N/C:L/I:N/PR:L/S:C/UI:N/E:U/RC:C/RL:O`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mfgj-x8hm-56jw

## What is CVE-2018-1791?

CVE-2018-1791 is a medium-severity server-side request forgery vulnerability in IBM Connections, published on 14 Sep 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Connections 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 is vulnerable to an External Service Interaction attack, caused by improper validation of a request property. By submitting suitable payloads, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to induce the Connections server to attack other systems. IBM X-Force ID: 148946.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-1791?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Connections.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-1791?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-1791 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-1791 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1791 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Connections

- [CVE-2016-3007](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3007/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2015-5038](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5038/): XML external entity in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2017-1748](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1748/): Open redirect in Connections (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2015-7461](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-7461/): XML external entity in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2016-2999](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2999/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-1791 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-1791 is a medium-severity server-side request forgery vulnerability in IBM Connections, published on 14 Sep 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1791 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Connections. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1791/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1791/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1791
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1791
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-1791

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1791/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.