CVE-2018-2872 in E-Business Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle General Ledger component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: Account Hierarchy Manager). Supported versions that are affected are 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 12.1.3, 12.2.3, 12.2.4, 12.2.5, 12.2.6 and 12.2.7. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle General Ledger. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle General Ledger accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.3 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2872 resides within the Oracle General Ledger component of Oracle E-Business Suite, specifically within the Account Hierarchy Manager subcomponent. This weakness affects multiple versions including 12.1.1 through 12.2.7, representing a significant attack surface across the Oracle E-Business Suite ecosystem. The vulnerability is classified as easily exploitable, indicating that attackers can leverage it without requiring specialized skills or access privileges, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on these systems for financial data management.
The technical flaw manifests as a security weakness that allows unauthenticated attackers to gain network access through HTTP protocols and subsequently compromise the Oracle General Ledger functionality. This represents a critical failure in the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the system, where the Account Hierarchy Manager fails to properly validate incoming requests from external sources. The vulnerability operates at the application layer, exploiting weaknesses in how the system processes HTTP requests and manages access controls for financial data structures.
From an operational impact perspective, successful exploitation of this vulnerability results in unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle General Ledger data, which constitutes a significant confidentiality breach. The CVSS 3.0 score of 5.3 indicates a medium severity impact with confidentiality being the primary concern, while integrity and availability remain unaffected. Organizations using affected versions face potential exposure of sensitive financial information including account hierarchies, transaction data, and related financial reporting structures that could be accessed without proper authorization.
The attack vector analysis reveals that this vulnerability is accessible via network connections using HTTP protocols, suggesting that organizations with exposed Oracle E-Business Suite instances on their network perimeter are at risk. This aligns with ATT&CK framework technique T1190 for Exploit Public-Facing Application, where attackers target exposed web applications to gain initial access. The lack of requirement for authentication or privileged access means that even basic network reconnaissance can lead to successful exploitation, making this vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking financial data theft.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Oracle Critical Patch Updates that address this vulnerability, restricting network access to affected systems through firewalls, and implementing network segmentation to limit exposure. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) highlights the fundamental flaw in access control mechanisms, while the CVSS vector indicates that network-based attacks can be executed with low complexity and no user interaction required. Regular security assessments and monitoring of Oracle E-Business Suite installations are essential to prevent exploitation and maintain data integrity in financial systems.