CVE-2017-3555 in E-Business Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle iReceivables component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: Self Registration). 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 iReceivables. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle iReceivables. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/01/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3555 resides within Oracle iReceivables component of the Oracle E-Business Suite, specifically within the Self Registration subcomponent. This weakness represents a significant security gap in Oracle's enterprise resource planning software that affects multiple version streams including 12.1.1 through 12.2.6. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers require minimal technical expertise or resources to leverage this flaw, making it particularly dangerous for organizations running affected Oracle EBS deployments. The vulnerability operates at the network level, requiring only HTTP access to exploit, which means it can be targeted from external networks without requiring any authentication credentials or privileged access to the system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability allows for unauthorized compromise of the Oracle iReceivables functionality through what is termed a "complete DOS" attack vector. This means that successful exploitation results in a denial of service condition where the affected component becomes unavailable to legitimate users due to either a complete hang or a frequently repeatable crash scenario. The underlying mechanism appears to involve improper input validation or handling within the self-registration process that enables attackers to craft malicious requests that trigger system instability. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.5 with a high availability impact rating (A:H) underscores the severity of this flaw, as it directly impacts the operational continuity and availability of critical financial processing capabilities.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations utilizing Oracle EBS environments, particularly those with extensive iReceivables usage for accounts receivable processing and customer self-registration functionality. The potential for complete system disruption means that businesses could experience significant operational downtime during which customers cannot register themselves, financial processes may halt, and revenue collection activities could be severely impacted. The vulnerability's availability impact rating of high indicates that attackers can reliably trigger the denial of service condition through repeated exploitation attempts. Organizations with limited incident response capabilities or those operating in mission-critical environments may face severe business disruption if this vulnerability is exploited, potentially leading to financial losses and customer service degradation.
Security practitioners should consider this vulnerability in the context of the Common Weakness Enumeration framework, where it aligns with CWE-119 which covers "Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer" or similar buffer overflow conditions that can lead to system instability and denial of service. Additionally, from an adversary perspective this vulnerability maps to MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to service disruption and availability attacks, specifically targeting system availability through resource exhaustion or process termination. The lack of authentication requirements for exploitation makes this particularly concerning from a threat actor standpoint, as it eliminates the need for credential compromise or privileged access. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, firewall rules to restrict HTTP access to the affected component, and application-level controls to monitor for unusual registration patterns. The recommended approach involves applying Oracle's security patches as soon as they become available, while also implementing network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and establishing incident response procedures specifically addressing denial of service scenarios involving critical business applications.