CVE-2018-2473 in Business Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Server, versions 4.1 and 4.2, when using Web Intelligence Richclient 3 tiers mode gateway allows an attacker to prevent legitimate users from accessing a service, either by crashing or flooding the service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/12/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2473 affects SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Server versions 4.1 and 4.2 when operating in Web Intelligence Richclient three-tier mode with gateway functionality. This security flaw represents a denial of service condition that can be exploited by malicious actors to disrupt legitimate business operations. The vulnerability specifically impacts the server's ability to maintain consistent service availability, creating operational risks that can significantly impact enterprise business intelligence workflows.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and resource management within the gateway component of the three-tier architecture. When processing certain malformed or crafted requests through the Web Intelligence Richclient interface, the server fails to properly handle the incoming traffic patterns, leading to service disruption. This flaw operates at the application layer and can be triggered through network-based attacks that exploit the gateway's response handling mechanisms. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-400 as "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for "Endpoint Denial of Service" within the broader category of resource exhaustion attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption to potentially cause significant business disruption. Organizations relying on SAP BusinessObjects for critical reporting and analytics may experience downtime that affects decision-making processes, reporting cycles, and overall business operations. The vulnerability's exploitation can result in either immediate service crashes or gradual resource exhaustion that leads to system unresponsiveness. This disruption can affect multiple concurrent users simultaneously, creating cascading effects throughout the enterprise's analytical capabilities and potentially impacting downstream systems that depend on timely data access.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-2473 should prioritize immediate patch application from SAP, as the vendor has released security updates to address this specific vulnerability. Network-level protections such as rate limiting and access control lists can provide temporary defense while patches are deployed. Organizations should implement monitoring solutions to detect anomalous traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The implementation of proper input validation and resource management controls within the application layer can help reduce the attack surface. Additionally, maintaining network segmentation and restricting access to the gateway components can limit the potential impact of exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems to identify and alert on suspicious traffic patterns that may indicate denial of service attacks targeting the affected SAP components.