CVE-2016-0537 in E-Business Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Oracle Human Resources component in Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10.2 allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality and integrity via unknown vectors related to Person.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/04/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-0537 resides within the Oracle Human Resources component of the Oracle E-Business Suite version 11.5.10.2, representing a significant security weakness that enables remote attackers to compromise both confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data. This unspecified vulnerability specifically relates to the Person entity within the Human Resources module, suggesting a fundamental flaw in how the system handles personnel-related information and potentially exposing critical employee data to unauthorized access and modification. The lack of specific technical details in the initial description indicates that this vulnerability may involve multiple attack vectors or could represent a complex issue within the application's security architecture.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it within the realm of application-level security flaws that can be exploited without requiring local system access or authentication credentials. Attackers leveraging this weakness could potentially manipulate personnel records, access confidential employee information, or alter critical HR data that forms the backbone of organizational workforce management systems. The vulnerability's impact on both confidentiality and integrity suggests that attackers might not only read sensitive data but also modify or corrupt personnel records, potentially leading to identity theft, unauthorized access to systems, or disruption of HR processes. This dual impact characteristic aligns with common security principles where a single vulnerability can compromise multiple security objectives simultaneously.
From an operational standpoint, the exploitation of this vulnerability could result in severe consequences for organizations utilizing Oracle E-Business Suite, particularly those with extensive HR databases containing sensitive personal information. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors could potentially target these systems from anywhere on the internet, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous for organizations that do not maintain robust network segmentation or monitoring controls. The Person-related focus indicates that attackers could specifically target employee records, potentially accessing salary information, personal identification details, or other sensitive data that would be highly valuable on the black market or for social engineering attacks.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should consider implementing immediate mitigations including applying Oracle's security patches and updates, implementing network segmentation to limit access to HR systems, and establishing enhanced monitoring for suspicious activities related to personnel data access. The vulnerability's classification under the broader category of application security flaws aligns with CWE-778 (Insufficient Logging) and CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) categories, suggesting that the root cause might involve inadequate data validation or insufficient logging mechanisms. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability would likely map to techniques involving credential access and data manipulation, potentially enabling adversaries to establish persistence through compromised HR data or to conduct more sophisticated attacks leveraging stolen personnel information.
The remediation approach should include comprehensive patch management procedures, regular security assessments of the Oracle E-Business Suite environment, and implementation of proper access controls and audit logging for HR-related data. Organizations should also consider conducting vulnerability scans specifically targeting Oracle applications and establishing incident response procedures for potential exploitation of this type of vulnerability. The complexity of Oracle E-Business Suite environments means that mitigation efforts should be coordinated with IT security teams and application administrators to ensure that patches do not disrupt critical business operations while effectively addressing the security weakness. Regular security awareness training for HR personnel and system administrators can also help identify potential exploitation attempts and reduce the risk of successful attacks targeting the Person entity within the Oracle Human Resources component.