CVE-2018-2978 in Hospitality Simphony
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hospitality Simphony component of Oracle Hospitality Applications (subcomponent: Import/Export). Supported versions that are affected are 2.8, 2.9 and 2.10. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Hospitality Simphony. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle Hospitality Simphony accessible data as well as unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Hospitality Simphony accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Hospitality Simphony. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.1 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/17/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2978 resides within the Oracle Hospitality Simphony component of Oracle Hospitality Applications, specifically within the Import/Export subcomponent. This critical security flaw affects versions 2.8, 2.9, and 2.10 of the software, representing a significant risk to hospitality organizations that rely on this system for their operational infrastructure. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and presents a challenging exploitation scenario that requires minimal privileges but can result in severe consequences for the targeted organization's data integrity and availability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and access control mechanisms within the import/export functionality of the Simphony platform. Attackers can exploit this weakness through HTTP network connections, requiring only low privilege access to execute malicious payloads that can manipulate critical system data. The flaw allows unauthorized users to perform data modification operations including creation, deletion, and modification of sensitive information that would normally require elevated privileges. This represents a classic privilege escalation vulnerability that undermines the fundamental security model of the application, as documented under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions).
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data compromise, as it can lead to complete system availability degradation through partial denial of service conditions. Organizations utilizing Oracle Hospitality Simphony for reservation management, guest services, and revenue tracking face substantial risk of operational disruption when this vulnerability is exploited. The confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts are all rated as high, with the potential for attackers to access all system data or cause partial system unavailability, directly affecting business operations and customer service delivery. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 (Valid Accounts) and T1499 (Endpoint Denial of Service) as attackers can leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized access and disrupt service availability.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to restrict access to the affected system, disabling unnecessary HTTP services, and applying the latest security patches provided by Oracle. Access control measures should be strengthened through proper authentication and authorization protocols, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access the import/export functionality. Regular security monitoring and log analysis should be implemented to detect anomalous access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of comprehensive security testing and the need for robust input validation mechanisms in enterprise applications, particularly those handling sensitive customer data in hospitality environments where system availability directly impacts revenue generation and customer satisfaction.