Zero-Day Advisory

Fortinet Discovers IBM SPSS Modeler DLL Pre-Loading Vulnerability

Summary

Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs has discovered an insecure DLL loading vulnerability in IBM SPSS Modeler.

IBM SPSS Modeler is an intuitive, drag-and-drop data science tool. It is used to build predictive models and conduct other analytic tasks.

IBM SPSS Modeler is susceptible to an insecure DLL loading vulnerability. The issue occurs when the application looks to load a DLL for execution and an attacker provides a malicious DLL to use instead. The application generally follows a specific search path to locate the DLL. The vulnerability can be exploited by a simple file write which results in a foreign DLL running under the context of the application.

Solutions

Users should apply the solution provided by IBM.

Timeline

Fortinet reported the vulnerability to IBM on November 14, 2019.

IBM confirmed the vulnerability on December 18, 2019.

IBM patched the vulnerability on April 1, 2020.

References

• https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6173781

• CVE-2019-4732

Acknowledgement

This vulnerability was discovered by Honggang Ren of Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs.

IPS Subscription

Fortinet customers who subscribe to Fortinet's intrusion prevention (IPS) service should be protected against this vulnerability with the appropriate configuration parameters in place. Fortinet's IPS service is one component of FortiGuard Subscription Services, which also offer comprehensive solutions such as antivirus, Web content filtering and antispam capabilities. These services enable protection against threats on both application and network layers. FortiGuard Services are continuously updated by FortiGuard Labs, which enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security intelligence and true zero-day protection from new and emerging threats. These updates are delivered to all FortiGate, FortiMail and FortiClient products. Fortinet strictly follows responsible disclosure guidelines to ensure optimum protection during a threat's lifecycle.