CVE-2018-2966 in Primavera Unifier
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Primavera Unifier component of Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite (subcomponent: Core). Supported versions that are affected are 16.x, 17.x and 18.x. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Primavera Unifier. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Primavera Unifier, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Primavera Unifier accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.4 (Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2966 resides within the Primavera Unifier component of Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite, specifically within the Core subcomponent. This flaw affects versions 16.x, 17.x, and 18.x of the software, representing a significant security weakness that has persisted across multiple release lines. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage it with minimal technical sophistication, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where such systems often handle sensitive project data and business-critical information.
The technical nature of this vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to compromise the Primavera Unifier system through network-based HTTP access, eliminating the need for prior authentication credentials. This represents a fundamental breach in the system's access control mechanisms, as the vulnerability specifically targets the core authentication and authorization processes within the application. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 7.4 for integrity impacts reflects the severity of potential data modifications that could occur, while the vector notation (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N) indicates network-based attack surface with low complexity, no privilege requirements, and the necessity of human interaction for successful exploitation. The fact that this vulnerability can affect additional products beyond Primavera Unifier demonstrates its potential for cascading security impacts within complex enterprise environments.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data integrity concerns, as successful exploitation can enable unauthorized creation, deletion, or modification of critical data within the Primavera Unifier environment. This capability represents a severe compromise of data integrity and can potentially disrupt project management workflows, alter critical project timelines, and compromise the reliability of construction project data that multiple stakeholders depend upon. The vulnerability's potential to impact additional products within the Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite ecosystem suggests that attackers could leverage this weakness to gain broader access to related systems and services, potentially creating a foothold for more extensive attacks. Organizations utilizing these versions of Primavera Unifier face significant risk of data corruption, unauthorized modifications to project information, and potential disruption of critical construction project management processes.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and maps to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access. The requirement for human interaction suggests this may involve social engineering components or user-specific actions that facilitate exploitation, though the underlying technical flaw remains a network-based vulnerability. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, access controls, and application firewalls to restrict unauthorized HTTP access to the Primavera Unifier services. The vulnerability's CVSS score indicates a high severity risk that requires urgent attention, particularly given the widespread use of Primavera Unifier in construction and engineering project management environments where data integrity and system reliability are paramount. System administrators should prioritize patch management and consider implementing additional monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect unauthorized access attempts to these critical systems.