CVE-2017-3485 in FLEXCUBE Universal Banking
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Supported versions that are affected are 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 12.0.0, 12.0.1, 12.0.2, 12.0.3, 12.1.0 and 12.2.0. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.8 (Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3485 resides within Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, a critical component of Oracle Financial Services Applications that serves as the backbone for banking operations. This specific flaw manifests in the Infrastructure subcomponent of the FLEXCUBE Universal Banking system, affecting multiple version releases including 11.3.0 through 12.2.0. The vulnerability's classification as difficult to exploit indicates that while the attack vector requires some technical skill or specific conditions, it remains a significant threat given the sensitive nature of financial data and banking operations. The affected system components operate within a high-stakes environment where unauthorized access can result in substantial financial and operational damage.
The technical implementation flaw within the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking system creates a pathway for attackers to manipulate critical data through HTTP network connections. This vulnerability specifically targets the integrity and availability aspects of the system, allowing low privileged attackers to perform unauthorized modifications to data structures and potentially cause complete system downtime through denial of service conditions. The CVSS 3.0 scoring system rates this vulnerability at 6.8, reflecting the significant impact on both data integrity and system availability. The attack vector requires network access via HTTP, suggesting that the vulnerability can be exploited from external networks, making it particularly concerning for organizations with exposed web services.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data compromise, as it enables attackers to create, delete, or modify critical banking data with potentially devastating consequences. Organizations utilizing affected FLEXCUBE versions face the risk of unauthorized financial transactions, data manipulation, and complete system disruption that could halt banking operations for extended periods. The vulnerability's potential to cause repeated crashes or hangs represents a particularly dangerous aspect, as it could lead to sustained service outages that impact customer access and business continuity. The complete denial of service capability means that banking services could become entirely unavailable, affecting customer transactions and operational efficiency.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to limit access to FLEXCUBE Universal Banking components, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and implementation of robust access controls to reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability's classification under CWE categories related to insufficient input validation and inadequate access control demonstrates the fundamental security weaknesses that need addressing through proper code review processes and security testing. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious HTTP activity targeting the affected components and establish incident response procedures to address potential exploitation attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under initial access and privilege escalation techniques, highlighting the need for comprehensive security monitoring and defense-in-depth strategies to protect against such threats.