CVE-2019-2479 in Outside In Technology
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Outside In Technology component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: Outside In Filters). Supported versions that are affected are 8.5.3 and 8.5.4. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Outside In Technology. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete 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 7.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/27/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2479 resides within Oracle Outside In Technology, a critical component of Oracle Fusion Middleware that functions as a suite of software development kits enabling applications to process various file formats. This specific flaw affects versions 8.5.3 and 8.5.4 of the Outside In Filters subcomponent, which serves as the core processing engine for handling document conversions and file parsing operations. The vulnerability represents a significant security weakness that can be exploited without authentication, making it particularly dangerous for systems that expose this functionality over network interfaces.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the Outside In Technology processing pipeline, specifically within the filter mechanisms that handle incoming HTTP requests. When maliciously crafted data is processed through these filters, the system experiences a condition that leads to complete denial of service scenarios. The flaw manifests as an inability to properly handle malformed input sequences, causing the processing threads to hang indefinitely or crash repeatedly. This behavior creates a persistent availability disruption that can be easily triggered by an unauthenticated network attacker, as the vulnerability does not require any privileged access or credentials to exploit.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations relying on Oracle Fusion Middleware implementations that utilize Outside In Technology for document processing capabilities. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.5 indicates a high-severity threat with availability impacts, where successful exploitation can result in complete system downtime. The vulnerability's ease of exploitation means that attackers can readily cause service disruption without requiring specialized knowledge or privileged access. Organizations using this technology for critical document processing, content management, or data conversion services face substantial business impact when this vulnerability is exploited, as it can render entire systems unusable and potentially affect downstream applications that depend on these processing capabilities.
The attack surface for this vulnerability is particularly concerning as it operates at the network level, allowing remote exploitation from any system with access to the affected HTTP endpoints. This characteristic aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks and represents a classic availability-focused threat that can be amplified through automated scanning tools. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple service interruption, as the repeated crashes and hangs can cause cascading failures in larger enterprise environments where multiple services depend on the same processing infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying Oracle's security patches and updates specifically addressing this vulnerability, as well as implementing network-level controls such as firewalls and access controls to limit exposure of affected services. The CVSS vector analysis indicates that the severity assessment assumes direct network data processing, but organizations should also review their application architectures to ensure that data processing layers properly validate and sanitize input before passing it to the Outside In Technology components. Additionally, implementing monitoring solutions that can detect unusual processing patterns or repeated system hangs can help identify exploitation attempts and provide early warning capabilities. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Input) and its alignment with ATT&CK tactics for privilege escalation and denial of service attacks emphasizes the need for comprehensive security hardening measures beyond simple patching approaches.