CVE-2018-3093 in Outside In Technology
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Outside In Technology component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: Outside In Filters). The supported version that is affected is 8.5.3. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Outside In Technology. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Outside In Technology accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Outside In Technology. Note: Outside In Technology is a suite of software development kits (SDKs). The protocol and CVSS score depend on the software that uses the Outside In Technology code. The CVSS score assumes that the software passes data received over a network directly to Outside In Technology code, but if data is not received over a network the CVSS score may be lower. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.1 (Confidentiality and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2023
The CVE-2018-3093 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw within Oracle Outside In Technology, specifically affecting Oracle Fusion Middleware version 8.5.3. This vulnerability resides in the Outside In Filters subcomponent, which serves as a crucial element within Oracle's software development kits suite. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage it without requiring specialized skills or significant resources, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where such systems are often exposed to external networks.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the Outside In Technology processing pipeline. When network requests are processed through the affected Oracle Fusion Middleware components, the system fails to adequately sanitize incoming data before passing it to the underlying Outside In Technology code. This processing gap creates an attack surface where malicious actors can craft specially designed HTTP requests that trigger unexpected behavior in the vulnerable components. The vulnerability's CVSS score of 7.1 reflects the high impact potential, with confidentiality and availability being the primary affected areas. The attack vector requires network access via HTTP, meaning the vulnerability is accessible from external networks without requiring authentication, significantly expanding the potential threat landscape.
Operational impact assessment reveals that successful exploitation of CVE-2018-3093 can lead to severe consequences including unauthorized access to critical data and complete access to all data accessible through the affected Oracle Outside In Technology components. The vulnerability's ability to cause partial denial of service adds another dimension to its threat profile, potentially disrupting business operations and system availability. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or targeted phishing approaches may be necessary to initiate exploitation, though this does not diminish the overall risk level. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations using Oracle Fusion Middleware in their enterprise infrastructure, where the Outside In Technology SDKs are integrated into various applications and services.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected Oracle Fusion Middleware installations to version 8.5.3 or later, as Oracle has released security updates addressing this specific flaw. Network segmentation strategies should be implemented to limit direct external access to affected systems, particularly those running Oracle Fusion Middleware components. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious HTTP traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) aligns with common attack patterns documented in the ATT&CK framework, specifically relating to initial access and credential access phases. Additionally, implementing proper data validation and sanitization processes within applications that utilize Oracle Outside In Technology SDKs can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, as this vulnerability essentially represents a failure in input sanitization at the middleware level. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all systems utilizing affected Oracle components and establish monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts.