SearchBlox Vulnerabilities Underscore the Importance of Updating Enterprise Search Tools

Consumers are constantly looking things up on Google, but within the enterprise, search tools can be essential to meeting customer needs and getting work done. Because of this, the discovery of several SearchBlox vulnerabilities could be a scary reminder that chief information security officers (CISOs) should worry about protecting corporate databases as well as the technology that is used to hunt through them.

An advisory from the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute CERT Division provided a detailed breakdown of the SearchBlox vulnerabilities, which the company says have now been patched. They ranged from holes that would allow cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery attacks to ways cybercriminals could upload files or view confidential information.

According to Ashish Kamble, the researcher who found the SearchBlox vulnerabilities, one of the problems around unrestricted file uploads stemmed from issues that were identified in 2013 but were not completely fixed. In a post on the Qualys blog, he said the flaws were in Version 8.1 of the product and have been fixed in Version 8.2 after he contacted the company.

Of all the possible threats, the ability for cybercriminals to conduct XSS attacks from within the product’s default search box is likely the most concerning, Threatpost reported. On the other hand, anyone trying to take advantage of such SearchBlox vulnerabilities would need to be an authenticated user, though there is no shortage of stories about insider threats within the enterprise.

Most consumers have probably never heard of SearchBlox, but it has quickly become a popular tool among corporate users who need to quickly scour customer relationship management systems, back-end portals, e-commerce sites and other repositories. According to a story on SecurityWeek, its user base spans 30 countries and more than 300 organizations. That means it could become an equally popular target for cybercriminals if users don’t quickly upgrade to the most recent version.

For all the talk about big data in the media, most organizations are probably most concerned about the structured information that runs day-to-day operations. That means if other SearchBlox vulnerabilities are discovered or rear their head in similar products, CISOs and their teams will certainly know where their priorities lie.

Shane Schick

Writer & Editor

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