CVE-2018-2444 in BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation
Summary
by MITRE
SAP BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation, versions 10.0, 10.1, does not sufficiently encode user-controlled inputs, resulting in Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/15/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2444 affects SAP BusinessObjects Financial Consolidation versions 10.0 and 10.1, representing a critical cross-site scripting flaw that stems from inadequate input validation and encoding mechanisms within the application's user interface components. This vulnerability resides in the application's handling of user-controlled data inputs that are subsequently rendered in web pages without proper sanitization, creating an environment where malicious actors can inject arbitrary JavaScript code into the victim's browser context. The flaw manifests when users interact with the financial consolidation platform, particularly during data entry or report generation activities where user inputs are processed and displayed within the application's web interface.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. The root cause lies in the application's failure to properly encode special characters and HTML entities within user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses. This inadequate sanitization allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' sessions, potentially leading to session hijacking, data theft, or unauthorized actions within the application. The vulnerability affects the application's web-based interface components where user inputs are directly incorporated into dynamic HTML content without appropriate security measures such as HTML escaping or context-aware encoding mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to leverage the compromised application to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of legitimate users. An attacker could craft malicious inputs that, when processed by the application, would execute scripts in the victim's browser, potentially stealing session cookies, modifying financial data, or accessing sensitive reports and consolidation data. The attack vector typically involves sending specially crafted payloads through the application's input fields or parameters, which are then reflected back to the user's browser, executing the malicious code within the trusted application context. This creates a significant risk for organizations using financial consolidation systems where unauthorized access to financial data could result in substantial financial loss and regulatory compliance violations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-2444 should prioritize immediate application of SAP security patches and updates released specifically for this vulnerability, as well as implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations should deploy web application firewalls to filter suspicious input patterns and establish strict content security policies that prevent script execution in the application's response context. The implementation of proper HTML escaping for all user-supplied inputs and the enforcement of secure coding practices in the application's development lifecycle represents the most effective long-term solution. Additionally, regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components, while user education about recognizing potentially malicious inputs can help reduce the risk of successful exploitation through social engineering approaches. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing defense-in-depth strategies that protect against common web application vulnerabilities such as those categorized under the attack pattern framework defined in the MITRE ATT&CK matrix for web application attacks.