Summary
InterSystems IRIS for Health may have TLS/SSL encryption disabled by default, allowing sensitive data to travel without adequate transport protection.
An attacker able to observe network traffic could read transmitted information and may reuse exposed authentication data to access the affected system.
InterSystems IRIS for Health may have TLS/SSL encryption disabled by default, allowing sensitive data to travel without adequate transport protection.
An attacker able to observe network traffic could read transmitted information and may reuse exposed authentication data to access the affected system.
Affected context
The issue occurs in deployments of InterSystems IRIS for Health where TLS/SSL is not enabled or enforced for relevant network connections. Risk depends on whether sensitive information, credentials, session data, or other authentication material crosses a network that an attacker can monitor.
The issue occurs in deployments of InterSystems IRIS for Health where TLS/SSL is not enabled or enforced for relevant network connections. Risk depends on whether sensitive information, credentials, session data, or other authentication material crosses a network that an attacker can monitor.
Exploit preconditions
- Attack surface: Network communications involving the IRIS for Health deployment
- Required access: A position that permits observation or interception of relevant traffic, such as a compromised network segment or interception point
- Trigger point: Transmission of data over connections without effective TLS/SSL protection
- Why exploitation is possible: Unencrypted traffic can expose readable information, including authentication data that may be reusable if additional controls do not prevent replay or unauthorized use
- Attack surface: Network communications involving the IRIS for Health deployment
- Required access: A position that permits observation or interception of relevant traffic, such as a compromised network segment or interception point
- Trigger point: Transmission of data over connections without effective TLS/SSL protection
- Why exploitation is possible: Unencrypted traffic can expose readable information, including authentication data that may be reusable if additional controls do not prevent replay or unauthorized use
Why this happens
The underlying issue is a secure-transport configuration failure: communications that may contain sensitive data are permitted without encryption by default.
This maps to CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information, where information is sent across a network in a form that can be observed by an unauthorized party. The insecure pattern is relying on unencrypted transport unless administrators explicitly enable and enforce protected channels.
The underlying issue is a secure-transport configuration failure: communications that may contain sensitive data are permitted without encryption by default.
This maps to CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information, where information is sent across a network in a form that can be observed by an unauthorized party. The insecure pattern is relying on unencrypted transport unless administrators explicitly enable and enforce protected channels.
Potential impact
- Sensitive business or health-related data may be disclosed
- Credentials or session information could be captured
- An attacker could use exposed authentication data to attempt unauthorized login
- Network traffic could be monitored or collected for later analysis
- Data confidentiality and compliance objectives may be weakened
- Sensitive business or health-related data may be disclosed
- Credentials or session information could be captured
- An attacker could use exposed authentication data to attempt unauthorized login
- Network traffic could be monitored or collected for later analysis
- Data confidentiality and compliance objectives may be weakened
General mitigation guidance
Mitigation generally focuses on making encrypted transport the secure-by-default behavior for every connection that can carry sensitive information.
Common defensive patterns include:
- Enforcing TLS/SSL for client, administrative, service, and integration connections
- Rejecting or tightly restricting unencrypted fallback channels
- Validating certificates and using strong endpoint authentication
- Reducing trust in network location by protecting traffic even inside internal segments
- Limiting credential privileges and using short-lived or narrowly scoped authentication material
- Segmenting network access and applying least-privilege firewall policies
- Avoiding transmission of sensitive data when a protected channel is unavailable
Mitigation generally focuses on making encrypted transport the secure-by-default behavior for every connection that can carry sensitive information.
Common defensive patterns include:
- Enforcing TLS/SSL for client, administrative, service, and integration connections
- Rejecting or tightly restricting unencrypted fallback channels
- Validating certificates and using strong endpoint authentication
- Reducing trust in network location by protecting traffic even inside internal segments
- Limiting credential privileges and using short-lived or narrowly scoped authentication material
- Segmenting network access and applying least-privilege firewall policies
- Avoiding transmission of sensitive data when a protected channel is unavailable
How teams detect issues like this
Organizations can identify this class of weakness through:
- Configuration reviews that verify encryption is enabled and required for each relevant connection type
- Network monitoring and traffic analysis for plaintext protocols or readable authentication material
- Static and infrastructure-as-code checks for disabled TLS settings or permissive cleartext fallbacks
- Code review signals such as insecure transport defaults, certificate verification bypasses, or unencrypted service endpoints
- Policy enforcement requiring encrypted communications for sensitive data flows
- Periodic authenticated and unauthenticated transport-security assessments
Organizations can identify this class of weakness through:
- Configuration reviews that verify encryption is enabled and required for each relevant connection type
- Network monitoring and traffic analysis for plaintext protocols or readable authentication material
- Static and infrastructure-as-code checks for disabled TLS settings or permissive cleartext fallbacks
- Code review signals such as insecure transport defaults, certificate verification bypasses, or unencrypted service endpoints
- Policy enforcement requiring encrypted communications for sensitive data flows
- Periodic authenticated and unauthenticated transport-security assessments
Sources
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| docs. | docs.intersystems.com/ |
| docs. | docs.intersystems.com/ |
| github. | github.com/ |
| wrc. | wrc.intersystems.com |
| cisa. | cisa.gov/ |
