CVE-2017-3471 in FLEXCUBE Private Banking
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Miscellaneous). Supported versions that are affected are 12.0.0 and 12.1.0. Easily "exploitable" vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 4.7 (Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3471 resides within Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking, a critical component of Oracle Financial Services Applications that serves as a foundational platform for private banking operations. This particular weakness manifests in the Miscellaneous subcomponent of the FLEXCUBE Private Banking module, affecting specifically version 12.0.0 and 12.1.0 of the software. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage this flaw without requiring specialized skills or extensive preparation, making it particularly dangerous for financial institutions that rely on this system for their core banking operations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability involves an authentication bypass mechanism that allows unauthenticated attackers to access the Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking system through standard HTTP network connections. This represents a fundamental failure in the application's access control mechanisms, where the system fails to properly verify user credentials before granting access to sensitive banking functionalities. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 4.7 reflects the integrity impact severity, indicating that successful exploitation could enable unauthorized modification of data within the system. The attack vector AV:N (network) combined with low attack complexity AC:L suggests that this vulnerability can be exploited from any network location with minimal technical expertise required.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate compromise of the FLEXCUBE Private Banking system, as successful attacks can potentially affect additional Oracle Financial Services products that may share underlying components or interfaces with the vulnerable module. The requirement for human interaction UI:R indicates that while the initial exploitation can occur automatically, some form of user involvement is necessary to complete the attack, likely involving social engineering or targeted manipulation of legitimate users. This human factor component creates additional risk as it allows attackers to exploit not just technical weaknesses but also human behavioral patterns within financial institutions. The vulnerability's potential to enable unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations represents a significant threat to data integrity and financial transaction accuracy.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate the FLEXCUBE Private Banking system, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and comprehensive network monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege as defined in cybersecurity best practices. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and T1078 (Valid Accounts) as it allows attackers to leverage network-accessible services while potentially creating persistent access through compromised user accounts. The recommended remediation approach includes immediate patching of affected systems, implementation of multi-factor authentication for administrative access, and comprehensive security auditing of all financial application components to identify similar vulnerabilities that may exist within the broader Oracle Financial Services ecosystem.