CVE-2018-2654 in PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources component of Oracle PeopleSoft Products (subcomponent: Company Dir / Org Chart Viewer). The supported version that is affected is 9.2. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/31/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2654 resides within Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Human Resources component, specifically affecting the Company Dir / Org Chart Viewer subcomponent in version 9.2. This represents a critical security weakness that enables unauthenticated attackers to compromise the system through HTTP network access without requiring any prior authentication credentials. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage this flaw with minimal technical expertise, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where such systems may be exposed to external networks. The affected component serves as a critical interface for organizational structure visualization and employee directory management, making it a prime target for adversaries seeking to gain unauthorized access to sensitive human resources data.
The technical implementation flaw manifests through insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the PeopleSoft application layer. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious HTTP requests that bypass normal authentication procedures and directly access restricted functionality within the Company Dir / Org Chart Viewer. This weakness allows for unauthorized modification of data through update, insert, and delete operations on specific data subsets within the human resources database. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond the immediate component as it can affect additional products within the PeopleSoft ecosystem, creating cascading security implications across the enterprise's human capital management infrastructure. The CVSS 3.0 score of 6.1 reflects the moderate severity of the compromise, with confidentiality and integrity impacts rated as low to moderate, while the scope of the vulnerability is classified as changed, indicating potential impact on additional systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations utilizing PeopleSoft HCM solutions, as it enables attackers to access sensitive employee information and potentially manipulate organizational data structures. Successful exploitation can result in unauthorized read access to subsets of human resources data, potentially exposing personal employee details, organizational hierarchies, and sensitive personnel information. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or targeted phishing campaigns may be employed to facilitate exploitation, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where users may be susceptible to manipulation. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege, where unauthorized users can access functionality beyond their intended permissions.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to limit direct exposure of PeopleSoft components to untrusted networks, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter malicious HTTP requests, and application-level access controls to restrict functionality based on user roles and permissions. The vulnerability's characteristics suggest implementing additional authentication layers and monitoring mechanisms to detect anomalous access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify similar access control weaknesses across other PeopleSoft components and related applications. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing defense-in-depth strategies that protect against both known and emerging threats to enterprise human resources systems. The attack vector through HTTP access indicates that organizations should review their network architecture to ensure proper firewall rules and access controls are implemented to prevent unauthorized network access to business-critical applications.