CVE-2018-2981 in FLEXCUBE Universal Banking
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Supported versions that are affected are 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 12.0.1, 12.0.2, 12.0.3, 12.1.0, 12.2.0, 12.3.0, 12.4.0, 14.0.0 and 14.1.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.4 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2981 resides within Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, a critical component of Oracle Financial Services Applications that serves as the backbone for banking operations. This weakness specifically affects the Infrastructure subcomponent and impacts a wide range of versions including 11.3.0 through 14.1.0, indicating a significant attack surface across multiple generations of the software. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable suggests that threat actors can leverage it with minimal technical expertise, making it particularly dangerous for financial institutions that rely on this platform for their core banking services. The attack vector requires only network access via HTTP, eliminating the need for complex physical access or advanced technical privileges, which significantly increases the likelihood of successful exploitation.
The technical flaw manifests as a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows low-privileged attackers to gain unauthorized access to critical banking data. This weakness enables attackers to perform unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations against specific data sets within the FLEXCUBE environment, while also providing read access to a subset of accessible data. The CVSS 3.0 score of 5.4 reflects the moderate severity of the impact, with equal emphasis on confidentiality and integrity implications. The attack requires low complexity (AC:L) and only low privileges (PR:L) to execute successfully, making it particularly concerning for organizations where network-based attacks are common. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data theft to include potential manipulation of banking records, which could severely compromise financial operations and regulatory compliance. This weakness directly maps to CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 (Valid Accounts) and T1566 (Phishing) as attackers could potentially leverage this vulnerability after initial access through social engineering or other means.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-2981 represents a significant risk to financial institutions' data integrity and security posture. Unauthorized modification of banking data could lead to financial losses, regulatory violations, and reputational damage that extends far beyond the immediate technical breach. The vulnerability's ability to provide both read and write access creates multiple attack pathways for threat actors, potentially allowing them to manipulate customer records, transaction data, or internal banking systems. Organizations using affected versions of FLEXCUBE Universal Banking face the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive financial information, which could include customer account details, transaction histories, or other proprietary banking data. The vulnerability's presence across multiple versions suggests that many institutions may have been exposed for extended periods without detection, as the attack could occur through standard network traffic without raising immediate alerts. Security teams must consider this vulnerability as a potential entry point for more sophisticated attacks, as it provides a foundation for lateral movement within financial networks and could enable attackers to establish persistence within banking environments. The CVSS vector indicates that this vulnerability operates with a network attack surface (AV:N) and requires no user interaction (UI:N), meaning that automated attacks could potentially compromise systems without requiring human intervention, further amplifying the risk to organizations.