CVE-2017-3596 in WebCenter Sites
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebCenter Sites component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: Advanced UI). Supported versions that are affected are 11.1.1.8.0, 12.2.1.0.0, 12.2.1.1.0 and 12.2.1.2.0. Easily "exploitable" vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle WebCenter Sites. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle WebCenter Sites accessible data as well as unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle WebCenter Sites accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle WebCenter Sites. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.6 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/01/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3596 resides within Oracle WebCenter Sites, a component of Oracle Fusion Middleware that provides advanced user interface capabilities for content management and web publishing. This security flaw specifically affects the Advanced UI subcomponent and impacts multiple version streams including 11.1.1.8.0, 12.2.1.0.0, 12.2.1.1.0, and 12.2.1.2.0, representing a significant attack surface across Oracle's middleware portfolio. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers require minimal privileges and can leverage network-based HTTP access to initiate compromise attempts, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network exposure is common.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the WebCenter Sites Advanced UI component, allowing a low privileged attacker to bypass normal authentication mechanisms and gain unauthorized access to sensitive system resources. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 7.6 reflects the severity of potential impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains. Attackers can exploit this weakness to access critical data repositories, modify or delete content, and potentially cause partial denial of service conditions that disrupt normal operations. The vulnerability's attack vector requires network access via HTTP, meaning that any system with exposed WebCenter Sites services could be targeted by remote attackers without requiring physical access or elevated privileges.
From an operational impact perspective, successful exploitation of CVE-2017-3596 can result in comprehensive data compromise including unauthorized access to all accessible data within the WebCenter Sites environment, which may include sensitive content, user information, and business-critical documents. The vulnerability also enables attackers to perform unauthorized modifications to content and data, potentially leading to data integrity violations and content tampering that could damage organizational reputation and operational continuity. Additionally, the partial denial of service capability can significantly disrupt business operations by making content management systems unavailable to legitimate users, affecting content publishing workflows and customer-facing web applications.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through Oracle's security patches and updates, while implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of WebCenter Sites services. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege, where access controls should restrict user capabilities to only those necessary for their roles. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access, as attackers can leverage the weakness to gain elevated access rights and potentially move laterally within affected networks. Security teams should also consider implementing network monitoring and anomaly detection to identify potential exploitation attempts and establish incident response procedures to address successful compromises.