CVE-2018-3242 in E-Business Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Marketing component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: Marketing Administration). Supported versions that are affected are 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 12.1.3, 12.2.3, 12.2.4, 12.2.5, 12.2.6 and 12.2.7. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Marketing. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle Marketing, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Marketing accessible data as well as unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Marketing accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 8.2 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-3242 resides within the Oracle Marketing component of Oracle E-Business Suite, specifically within the Marketing Administration subcomponent. This critical security flaw affects multiple versions of the Oracle E-Business Suite including 12.1.1 through 12.2.7, making it a widespread concern across various organizational deployments. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage it without requiring specialized skills or extensive resources, posing significant risk to organizations utilizing these Oracle applications.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication mechanisms within the Oracle Marketing component, allowing unauthenticated attackers to gain network access via HTTP protocols. This weakness creates a direct pathway for malicious actors to compromise the marketing subsystem without requiring valid credentials. The vulnerability's CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.2 reflects its serious impact potential, with high confidentiality impact and low integrity impact, indicating that attackers can access critical data but may not be able to modify it directly. The attack vector AV:N (network) combined with low attack complexity AC:L suggests that exploitation requires minimal technical expertise and can be executed remotely.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate Oracle Marketing component, potentially affecting additional products within the Oracle E-Business Suite ecosystem. Successful exploitation enables attackers to achieve unauthorized access to all Oracle Marketing accessible data, including sensitive customer information, marketing campaigns, and business intelligence. The vulnerability also permits unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations on some accessible data, creating potential for data corruption or manipulation. This comprehensive access capability makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can facilitate both data theft and data integrity compromises simultaneously. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or user-based exploitation methods may be involved, potentially through phishing campaigns or targeted attacks.
Organizations facing this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigation strategies including network segmentation to limit access to Oracle Marketing components, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and implementation of robust authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 (Improper Authentication) and may be exploited using techniques consistent with ATT&CK tactics such as T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS). Patch management should be prioritized to address the root cause, while network monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious HTTP traffic patterns. Additional security controls including privileged access management, regular security assessments, and user access reviews should be implemented to reduce the overall attack surface and prevent exploitation of this vulnerability across the broader Oracle E-Business Suite environment.