CVE-2019-2591 in PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS component of Oracle PeopleSoft Products (subcomponent: Candidate Gateway). The supported version that is affected is 9.2. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS, 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 HRMS accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS 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 • 09/03/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2591 resides within the PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS component of Oracle PeopleSoft products, specifically affecting the Candidate Gateway subcomponent in version 9.2. This represents a significant security weakness that exposes organizations to potential compromise through unauthenticated network access via HTTP protocols. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers require minimal technical expertise to leverage this flaw, making it particularly dangerous in environments where PeopleSoft systems are deployed without adequate network segmentation or access controls.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication mechanisms within the Candidate Gateway functionality, which allows unauthorized users to interact with the system's data management capabilities. The CVSS 3.0 score of 6.1 reflects the moderate severity of impact, with confidentiality and integrity being the primary affected areas. The attack vector requires network access via HTTP, meaning that systems exposed to the internet or poorly secured internal networks become vulnerable to exploitation. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or targeted phishing campaigns may be necessary to trigger the vulnerability, though the underlying flaw itself remains accessible to any network entity capable of sending HTTP requests to the affected system.
The operational impact of successful exploitation extends beyond simple data access, as attackers can achieve unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations against sensitive HRMS data. This capability directly violates data integrity principles and can lead to significant business disruption when critical personnel information becomes compromised. The unauthorized read access to a subset of accessible data represents a confidentiality breach that could expose sensitive employee information, recruitment data, and other proprietary HRMS content. The security implications are further compounded by the potential for cascading effects that may impact additional products within the Oracle PeopleSoft ecosystem, creating extended attack surfaces that organizations must consider in their overall security posture.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate PeopleSoft systems from untrusted networks, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and implementation of robust authentication controls. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving initial access through network services and privilege escalation through data manipulation. Regular patch management processes should be prioritized to ensure timely remediation, while security monitoring should focus on detecting anomalous HTTP requests to HRMS components and unusual data access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.