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Security Bulletin: Data protection rules and policies are not enforced on virtualized objects

Security Bulletin


Summary

This problem is applicable for IBM Cloud Pak for Data 3.0.1 environments that have both Data Virtualization and Watson Knowledge Catalog add-ons. This problem is relevant only when using Data Virtualization configured for Watson Knowledge Catalog data policy enforcement. The "Policy enforcement" setting in "Service settings" is disabled by default. If this has not been changed, then the rest of this note is not applicable. If "Policy enforcement" setting in "Service settings" is enabled and data protection rules in Watson Knowledge Catalog are defined in Watson Knowledge Catalog (WKC), initially the rules will be observed to be enforced in Data Virtualization. However, after a while the rules may stop being enforced in Data Virtualization. This is a known issue that happens when a data asset in a catalog is not modified in any 7-day period, which leads to its expiration from the policy service cache.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID:   CVE-2021-20486
DESCRIPTION:   IBM Cloud Pak for Data could allow an authenticated user to obtain sensitive information when installed with additional plugins.
CVSS Base score: 5.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/197668 for the current score.
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

Affected Product(s)Version(s)
CP4D3.0

Remediation/Fixes

Apply the latest patch to WKC in IBM Cloud Pak for Data 3.0.1 by getting the Available patches for Watson Knowledge Catalog for IBM Cloud Pak for Data and following the steps for Applying Patches.

Note that this problem was first fixed in Version cpd-3.0.1-wkc-patch-5.

Workarounds and Mitigations

None

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References

Complete CVSS v3 Guide
On-line Calculator v3

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Related Information

IBM Secure Engineering Web Portal
IBM Product Security Incident Response Blog

Symptom

In IBM Cloud Pak for Data 3.0.1, data protection rules and policies, defined in Watson Knowledge Catalog (WKC), stop being enforced in Data Virtualization (DV) after a while.

Cause

When data assets in a catalog are not modified in any 7-day period, it leads to their expiration from the policy service cache. When this happens, WKC data protection rules and policies may stop being enforced in Data Virtualization on those data assets due to a known issue that has subsequently been fixed in a patch.

Diagnosing The Problem

If you suspect that you have encountered this problem, do the following:

1. In Data Virtualization: Collect>Data virtualization>Service settings

Check that the "Policy enforcement" setting in "Service settings" is enabled. If "Policy enforcement" is not enabled, then this issue and its documented resolution is not applicable and it is not necessary to follow the rest of these steps.

2. In WKC: Organize>All catalogs>Default Catalog>Settings

Check that "Governance protection rule enforcement" displays "All data protection rules are enforce on this catalog. You cannot disable enforcement."

3. In WKC: Organize>Data and AI governance>Rules

Check if some data protection rules have been defined.

4. If checks 1-3 are satisfied and you have observed or it has been reported that the behavior for accessing an asset in the catalog has changed, then it is quite likely you have encountered the problem described in this note. Review the suggested resolution.

Change History

25 May 2021: Initial Publication

*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.

Disclaimer

Review the IBM security bulletin disclaimer and definitions regarding your responsibilities for assessing potential impact of security vulnerabilities to your environment.

Document Location

Worldwide

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Document Information

Modified date:
25 May 2021

UID

ibm16456033

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