CVE-2018-3255 in PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools component of Oracle PeopleSoft Products (subcomponent: Fluid Core). Supported versions that are affected are 8.55, 8.56 and 8.57. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2023
The CVE-2018-3255 vulnerability resides within the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools component, specifically in the Fluid Core subcomponent, affecting Oracle PeopleSoft Products versions 8.55, 8.56, and 8.57. This represents a critical security flaw that exploits the web application layer through HTTP protocols, enabling unauthorized access to sensitive enterprise data. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage standard network-based attacks without requiring privileged access or specialized tools, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on PeopleSoft platforms for mission-critical business operations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate authentication and authorization controls within the Fluid Core framework, which serves as the foundation for PeopleSoft's modern user interface implementation. Attackers can exploit this weakness through unauthenticated network connections, potentially gaining access to sensitive data through unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond the immediate PeopleTools component, as successful exploitation can affect additional products within the PeopleSoft ecosystem, creating cascading security implications across enterprise applications. This interconnected nature of the vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which addresses valid accounts used for lateral movement, though in this case the access occurs through a vulnerability rather than legitimate account compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-3255 manifests through significant data integrity and confidentiality breaches, with attackers potentially modifying or deleting critical business data while also gaining read access to sensitive information. The CVSS 3.0 score of 6.1 reflects the moderate severity of this vulnerability, considering the low attack complexity and the requirement for human interaction to complete the attack. The vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N) indicates that network-based attacks can be executed with minimal effort, though the attack requires some form of user interaction beyond the initial exploitation phase. This vulnerability's potential to impact additional products demonstrates the interconnected nature of PeopleSoft applications and highlights the importance of comprehensive security assessments across entire application ecosystems rather than isolated component evaluations.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to limit access to PeopleSoft applications, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and application-level access controls to restrict unauthorized data operations. The vulnerability's characteristics align with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication issues, and organizations should conduct thorough penetration testing to identify similar authentication weaknesses across their PeopleSoft installations. Regular patch management and vulnerability scanning should be prioritized to address this and related vulnerabilities in PeopleSoft environments, while security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual data access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The requirement for human interaction in completing attacks suggests that user education and awareness programs should be implemented to prevent social engineering components that might be used in conjunction with this vulnerability.