CVE-2018-2679 in Financial Services Profitability Management
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Financial Services Profitability Management component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: User Interface). Supported versions that are affected are 6.1.x and 8.0.x. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Financial Services Profitability Management. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle Financial Services Profitability Management accessible data as well as unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Financial Services Profitability Management accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 8.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/30/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2679 resides within Oracle Financial Services Profitability Management, specifically within its User Interface subcomponent of the broader Oracle Financial Services Applications suite. This flaw affects versions 6.1.x and 8.0.x, representing a significant security gap in financial data management systems that serve critical banking and financial institutions. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and demonstrates a critical weakness in access control mechanisms that govern user permissions and data integrity within financial reporting environments.
This vulnerability represents a classic privilege escalation issue that falls under CWE-284, which addresses improper access control in software applications. The flaw enables attackers with minimal privileges to execute unauthorized modifications to financial data through HTTP network connections, bypassing normal security controls that should prevent such unauthorized access. The CVSS 3.0 score of 8.1 indicates a high severity threat level, with both confidentiality and integrity impacts rated as high, demonstrating the potential for significant financial data compromise. The attack vector requires only network access via HTTP, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited from remote locations without requiring physical access to the system infrastructure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data theft, as successful exploitation allows attackers to create, delete, or modify critical financial data within the Profitability Management system. This capability directly threatens the integrity of financial reporting and analysis processes that organizations depend upon for regulatory compliance, risk assessment, and business decision making. The potential for unauthorized access to all accessible data within the system represents a complete breakdown in data protection controls, potentially exposing sensitive financial information, transaction records, and profitability metrics that could be used for financial fraud or market manipulation. Organizations relying on this software for their core financial operations face substantial risk of data compromise and regulatory violations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-2679 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Oracle Financial Services Applications installations to address the identified privilege escalation vulnerability. Organizations must implement network segmentation to limit access to the affected systems and deploy web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic to the Profitability Management interface. Access controls should be reviewed and strengthened to ensure proper least privilege principles are enforced, with additional monitoring implemented for suspicious user activities and unauthorized data modifications. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security assessments and vulnerability management programs that can identify and remediate similar access control weaknesses in financial applications. Organizations should consider implementing additional logging and audit mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts and maintain compliance with financial regulatory requirements that mandate robust data protection controls.