CVE-2019-2629 in Health Sciences Data Management Workbench
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench component of Oracle Health Sciences Applications (subcomponent: User Interface). The supported version that is affected is 2.4.8. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.4 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2629 resides within the Oracle Health Sciences Data Management Workbench component, specifically within its User Interface subcomponent. This security flaw affects version 2.4.8 of the Oracle Health Sciences Applications suite, which is widely utilized in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries for managing clinical trial data and research information. The affected system operates within environments where sensitive patient data, clinical trial results, and proprietary research information are processed, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations handling regulated healthcare data.
This vulnerability represents a low-privilege attack vector that can be exploited through unauthenticated network access via HTTP protocols. The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the user interface component, allowing attackers to manipulate application behavior through crafted HTTP requests. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that the attack requires minimal technical expertise and can be executed with readily available tools, making it attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise healthcare data management systems. The CVSS score of 5.4 reflects the moderate severity of impact, with both confidentiality and integrity affected but no direct availability impact.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it enables unauthorized modification of critical healthcare data through update, insert, and delete operations. Attackers can potentially alter patient records, clinical trial outcomes, or research data, which could have severe consequences for patient safety and regulatory compliance. Additionally, the unauthorized read access to subset data means that sensitive information could be extracted without detection, potentially exposing proprietary research, patient privacy details, or clinical trial results. Organizations using this software may face regulatory violations under healthcare data protection laws such as HIPAA, GDPR, or other regional privacy regulations, leading to significant financial and reputational damage.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery) categories, indicating weaknesses in access control mechanisms and session management. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) as attackers can leverage HTTP protocols to reach the vulnerable interface. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, web application firewalls, and access control restrictions. Oracle has released patches for this vulnerability through their regular security updates, and administrators should prioritize applying these patches while also implementing monitoring for suspicious HTTP traffic patterns. The vulnerability underscores the importance of securing healthcare data management systems and demonstrates how seemingly minor access control flaws can have significant implications for patient safety and data integrity in regulated environments.