CVE-2019-2744 in FLEXCUBE Universal Banking
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Supported versions that are affected are 12.0.1-12.0.3, 12.1.0-12.4.0 and 14.0.0-14.2.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking 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 • 07/05/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2744 resides within Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, a critical component of Oracle Financial Services Applications that serves as a foundational infrastructure for banking operations. This weakness affects multiple version ranges including 12.0.1 through 12.0.3, 12.1.0 through 12.4.0, and 14.0.0 through 14.2.0, indicating a widespread impact across several generations of the software. The vulnerability operates at the infrastructure level, making it particularly dangerous as it can compromise the fundamental banking platform that supports core financial transactions and data management processes.
The technical flaw manifests as an easily exploitable vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to gain network-level access through HTTP protocols. This represents a significant security gap since attackers can leverage this weakness without requiring prior authentication credentials or privileged access. The vulnerability's exploitability is characterized by low attack complexity and no privilege requirements, making it accessible to a broad range of threat actors including those with limited technical expertise. The attack vector specifically targets HTTP communications, suggesting that the vulnerability may stem from improper input validation, inadequate access controls, or flawed session management within the web interface components of the FLEXCUBE system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate compromise of the FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component itself. Successful exploitation can result in unauthorized modification, insertion, or deletion of critical banking data, while also enabling unauthorized read access to sensitive information within the system. This dual impact on both confidentiality and integrity creates substantial risk for financial institutions relying on the platform, as attackers could potentially manipulate customer records, transaction data, or system configurations. The vulnerability's potential to affect additional products indicates that the compromised system may serve as a foothold for broader attacks within the financial services infrastructure, particularly given the interconnected nature of banking applications and their shared data repositories.
The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 6.1 reflects the moderate severity of this vulnerability, with a base score that considers both confidentiality and integrity impacts. The vector CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N indicates network accessibility with low attack complexity, no privilege requirements, and requires human interaction to complete successful exploitation. The score of 6.1 places this vulnerability in the medium severity category, though the potential for significant data compromise and system manipulation warrants immediate attention. This classification aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery) categories, reflecting the underlying access control weaknesses that enable unauthorized data operations.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to restrict HTTP access to the FLEXCUBE Universal Banking components, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and implementation of robust access controls that require authentication for all administrative functions. The vulnerability's requirement for human interaction suggests that security awareness training for employees becomes critical to prevent social engineering attacks that could leverage this weakness. Additionally, regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar access control weaknesses in other components of the financial services infrastructure, as the interconnected nature of banking systems means that compromise of one component can potentially lead to broader system infiltration. The recommended remediation approach should include applying Oracle's security patches as soon as they become available, while maintaining continuous monitoring of network traffic for potential exploitation attempts.
The attack surface for this vulnerability demonstrates the broader challenges faced by financial institutions in securing complex enterprise applications where legacy systems must coexist with modern security requirements. This weakness highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and the critical need for continuous vulnerability management programs that can identify and remediate access control flaws across all components of financial services infrastructure. The CVSS scoring and attack characteristics indicate that while the vulnerability may not be immediately critical, its potential for exploitation and the significant impact of successful attacks make it a high-priority target for immediate remediation efforts within financial institutions' security operations centers.