CVE-2017-10373 in PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools component of Oracle PeopleSoft Products (subcomponent: Health Center). Supported versions that are affected are 8.55 and 8.56. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.5 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-10373 resides within Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools component, specifically within the Health Center subcomponent. This flaw affects versions 8.55 and 8.56 of the PeopleSoft platform, representing a significant security weakness that impacts organizations relying on these enterprise applications for business-critical operations. The vulnerability manifests as an easily exploitable security flaw that can be leveraged by unauthenticated attackers without requiring any prior access credentials or privileged positions within the system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication and authorization controls within the Health Center functionality of PeopleTools. Attackers can exploit this weakness through standard HTTP network connections, eliminating the need for specialized tools or complex attack vectors. The flaw essentially allows unauthorized access to sensitive data and potentially complete control over all accessible PeopleTools data without requiring any authentication credentials. This represents a critical failure in the application's security architecture where proper access controls should have been enforced but were not adequately implemented.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates severe consequences for organizations utilizing affected PeopleSoft versions. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.5 indicates a high severity threat with confidentiality impacts rated as high, meaning that successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to critical business data. The vulnerability affects the entire PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools environment, potentially exposing sensitive financial information, employee records, and other confidential data that organizations rely on for their operations. The lack of authentication requirements means that any network-connected attacker could exploit this flaw, creating an immediate and widespread threat to organizational security.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege that should govern all enterprise applications. From an attack perspective, this flaw maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1190 for exploitation of remote services and T1071 for application layer protocol usage. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure, while also prioritizing immediate patching of affected systems. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper access controls in enterprise environments, as the absence of these protections can lead to complete system compromise. Remediation efforts should focus on applying Oracle's security patches immediately, implementing network monitoring to detect exploitation attempts, and conducting thorough security assessments to identify potential additional vulnerabilities in the PeopleSoft ecosystem.