CVE-2018-2961 in Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management component of Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite (subcomponent: Web Access). Supported versions that are affected are 8.4, 15.x, 16.x and 17.x. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management 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 • 04/09/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2961 affects Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite's Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management component, specifically within the Web Access subcomponent. This security flaw exists in multiple version ranges including 8.4, 15.x, 16.x, and 17.x, representing a significant attack surface across the product lifecycle. The vulnerability classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage this weakness without requiring specialized skills or extensive resources, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on this project management platform.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication mechanisms within the web access interface, allowing unauthenticated attackers to gain access to the system through standard HTTP network connections. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security model where the system fails to properly validate user credentials before granting access to sensitive functionality. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 6.1 reflects the moderate severity of the impact, with confidentiality and integrity being the primary affected aspects, though the vector indicates network accessibility with low attack complexity and no privilege requirements.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate Primavera P6 system to potentially affect additional products within the Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite ecosystem. This cascading effect occurs because the compromised system can serve as a foothold for attackers to move laterally through connected systems or access related databases and applications. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that while the initial exploitation may be automated, successful compromise still requires some form of user involvement, potentially through social engineering or targeted phishing campaigns that trick legitimate users into interacting with malicious content.
The specific data access capabilities granted by this vulnerability include unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations on certain portions of the Primavera P6 database, along with read access to subsets of accessible data. This compromise of data integrity and confidentiality represents a serious threat to project management information, potentially allowing attackers to modify project timelines, budgets, resource allocations, or other critical project data that could have significant financial and operational consequences. Organizations using this platform face risks of project disruption, data corruption, and potential intellectual property exposure through unauthorized data access.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering approaches. The attack surface and exploitation methods demonstrate how web application vulnerabilities can be leveraged to achieve persistent access and data manipulation within enterprise environments. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, web application firewalls, and access controls to limit exposure. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security assessments and patch management processes, as this issue affected multiple versions of the software, indicating a need for comprehensive security posture management across all Oracle products in use.