CVE-2013-3678 in Governance Risk And Compliance
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in SAP Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) allow remote authenticated users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary programs via a crafted (1) RFC or (2) SOAP-RFC request.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/04/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3678 affects SAP Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) solutions, which are enterprise applications designed to help organizations manage their compliance requirements, risk assessments, and regulatory adherence. This vulnerability resides within the communication protocols used by SAP GRC systems, specifically impacting the handling of remote function calls and soap-rfc requests that form the backbone of SAP system integration and data exchange processes. The affected systems typically operate in complex enterprise environments where multiple applications and databases interconnect through standardized SAP communication interfaces.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient validation and sanitization of incoming RFC (Remote Function Call) and SOAP-RFC requests that are processed by the SAP GRC components. When authenticated users send specially crafted requests through these communication channels, the system fails to properly validate the request parameters, potentially allowing malicious input to bypass security controls. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship established between authenticated users and the SAP system, where legitimate credentials are used to access system resources that should otherwise be restricted. The flaw essentially allows privilege escalation through manipulation of the communication protocols that are normally considered secure within the SAP ecosystem.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables remote authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code on the affected SAP systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise. An attacker who has already obtained legitimate credentials can exploit this vulnerability to elevate their privileges beyond what was originally intended, gaining access to sensitive data, system resources, and potentially moving laterally within the enterprise network. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on SAP GRC for compliance management, as the compromised systems could contain critical regulatory data, business intelligence, and sensitive operational information that could be exploited for financial gain or competitive advantage. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires only authenticated access, meaning that insiders or attackers who have obtained valid user credentials can exploit this vulnerability without requiring additional reconnaissance or privilege escalation techniques.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant SAP security patches and hotfixes released to address this vulnerability, which typically involve enhanced input validation and improved request handling mechanisms within the RFC and SOAP-RFC processing components. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit the scope of potential exploitation, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in RFC and SOAP-RFC request processing. Security configuration reviews should focus on ensuring that only necessary communication channels are enabled and that proper authentication controls are maintained. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) and CWE-79 (Cross-site Scripting) categories, and can be mapped to ATT&CK techniques including T1078 (Valid Accounts) for privilege escalation and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) for arbitrary code execution. Organizations should also consider implementing principle of least privilege controls and regular security assessments to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in their SAP environments.