CVE-2017-3356 in E-Business Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Marketing component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: User Interface). Supported versions that are affected are 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 12.1.3, 12.2.3, 12.2.4, 12.2.5 and 12.2.6. Easily "exploitable" vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Marketing. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle Marketing accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Marketing accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/21/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3356 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle E-Business Suite's Marketing component, specifically within the User Interface subcomponent. This vulnerability affects multiple version releases including 12.1.1 through 12.2.6, making it a widespread issue across the Oracle EBS platform. The flaw manifests as an easily exploitable weakness that allows unauthenticated attackers to compromise the Oracle Marketing functionality through standard HTTP network connections, eliminating the need for prior authentication or privileged access. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage this weakness without significant technical expertise or resources.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the User Interface component of Oracle Marketing. The flaw enables attackers to perform unauthorized operations including data creation, deletion, and modification across critical Oracle Marketing data repositories. Additionally, the vulnerability permits unauthorized read access to sensitive subsets of data within the Marketing component, potentially exposing confidential business information and customer data. The CVSS 3.0 scoring system assigns this vulnerability a base score of 7.1, reflecting the significant impact on both confidentiality and integrity aspects of the affected system. The vector notation AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N indicates network-based access with low attack complexity, no privilege requirements, and user interaction requirements, while the overall scope impact is rated as unchanged, meaning the vulnerability affects the same security scope as the vulnerable component.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data compromise, as it can result in complete unauthorized modification of critical business data within the Oracle Marketing environment. This includes the potential for data integrity violations that could affect marketing campaigns, customer information, and business analytics. The requirement for human interaction from individuals other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or phishing techniques might be employed to facilitate exploitation, potentially involving employees or business partners who interact with the Marketing interface. Organizations running affected Oracle EBS versions face significant risk of data breaches and operational disruption, particularly given that the vulnerability affects multiple release branches and can be exploited without authentication. The confidentiality impact is rated as low to high, indicating that while not all data may be accessible, sufficient sensitive information can be read to cause meaningful harm. The integrity impact is rated as high, reflecting the potential for destructive operations including data modification and deletion that could severely impact business operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-3356 should prioritize immediate patch application from Oracle, as this represents the most effective solution to address the underlying vulnerability. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of the affected Oracle Marketing interfaces to trusted networks only. Additional protective measures include enabling comprehensive logging and monitoring of access patterns to identify potential exploitation attempts, implementing web application firewalls to detect and block malicious HTTP requests, and conducting thorough security assessments of all Oracle EBS installations. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) and CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) classifications, and represents a significant concern under ATT&CK framework category TA0006 (Credential Access) and TA0005 (Defense Evasion) due to its potential for unauthorized data manipulation. Regular vulnerability assessments and security audits should be implemented to identify similar weaknesses in other Oracle EBS components, while employee training programs should address the social engineering aspects that may facilitate exploitation through user interaction requirements.