# CVE-2019-4171: Information disclosure in Cognos Controller

> Attackers can intercept sensitive session cookies via man-in-the-middle attacks due to missing secure attributes, potentially leading to account takeover.

- **Severity:** Low 3.7 (`CVSS:3.0/UI:N/A:N/AC:H/S:U/AV:N/C:L/I:N/PR:N/RC:C/E:U/RL:O`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2019
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g5wr-qm6m-p836

## What is CVE-2019-4171?

CVE-2019-4171 is a low-severity vulnerability in Ibm Cognos Controller, published on 17 Sep 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Cognos Controller 10.3.0, 10.3.1, 10.4.0, and 10.4.1 does not set the secure attribute on authorization tokens or session cookies. This could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 158876.

Weakness: CWE-311 (Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-4171?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Cognos Controller.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-4171?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-4171 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-4171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-4171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Cognos Controller

- [CVE-2024-28777](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-28777/): IBM Cognos Controller code execution (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-52902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-52902/): IBM Cognos Controller information disclosure (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-47160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47160/): IBM Cognos Controller XML external entity injection (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2024-40702](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40702/): IBM Cognos Controller improper certificate validation (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2024-45084](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45084/): IBM Cognos Controller CSV injection (high 8.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-4171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-4171 is a low-severity vulnerability in Ibm Cognos Controller, published on 17 Sep 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-4171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Cognos Controller. 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-2019-4171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-4171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-4171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-4171

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.