CVE-2013-3766 in Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management component in Oracle Primavera Products Suite 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 allows remote authenticated users to affect integrity via unknown vectors related to Web Access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/14/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3766 resides within Oracle Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management, a widely deployed enterprise project management solution that governs complex project portfolios across global organizations. This security flaw affects versions 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 of the Primavera Products Suite, representing a significant risk to organizations that depend on this platform for critical project planning and resource allocation. The vulnerability specifically impacts the Web Access component, which serves as the primary interface for remote user interactions with the project management system, making it a prime target for cyber adversaries seeking to compromise organizational project data integrity.
The technical nature of this vulnerability falls under the category of integrity compromise, where authenticated remote attackers can manipulate data within the system without detection. While the exact attack vectors remain unspecified in the CVE description, the classification suggests that the flaw exists within the web access layer's handling of user requests and data processing. This type of vulnerability typically stems from improper input validation, insufficient access controls, or flawed session management mechanisms that allow attackers to submit malicious payloads or manipulate existing data structures. The authenticated requirement indicates that attackers must first obtain valid credentials, but once achieved, they can leverage this vulnerability to alter project data, resource allocations, or timeline information that directly impacts business operations.
Organizations utilizing affected versions of Primavera P6 face substantial operational risks from this vulnerability, as project portfolio integrity directly correlates with business continuity and strategic decision-making. The compromise of project data integrity could lead to resource misallocation, timeline miscalculations, budget discrepancies, and ultimately financial losses. The web access component's exposure to remote attackers makes this particularly dangerous since it enables exploitation from outside the corporate network, potentially allowing adversaries to remain undetected while manipulating critical project information. Security teams must consider the cascading effects of such integrity violations, as altered project data can propagate through integrated systems and impact downstream business processes including procurement, resource planning, and stakeholder communications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patch management through Oracle's security updates and patches specifically addressing this flaw. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit access to the Primavera P6 system, enforce strict authentication controls, and establish monitoring protocols to detect anomalous data modification patterns. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and potentially CWE-311 (Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data) categories, indicating that the flaw likely involves insufficient authorization mechanisms or weak session management. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and data manipulation, potentially enabling adversaries to maintain persistent access while altering project data to achieve long-term strategic advantages. Regular security assessments, comprehensive access reviews, and implementation of automated integrity checking mechanisms should form part of the remediation strategy to prevent exploitation and ensure ongoing system security.