CVE-2019-2872 in Retail Xstore Point of Service
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service product of Oracle Retail Applications (component: Point of Sale). Supported versions that are affected are 17.0.3, 18.0.1 and 19.0.0. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows physical access to compromise Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 2.7 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/15/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2872 resides within Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service, a critical component of Oracle Retail Applications that handles point of sale operations in retail environments. This vulnerability affects specific versions 17.0.3, 18.0.1, and 19.0.0, making it a targeted issue for organizations utilizing these particular releases. The security flaw represents a significant concern for retail businesses that depend on secure point of sale systems to protect transaction data and customer information. The vulnerability's classification as difficult to exploit indicates that while it requires specific conditions for successful exploitation, the potential impact on retail operations makes it a serious security concern that cannot be ignored.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the point of sale system, allowing for unauthorized data manipulation and access. The CVSS 3.0 scoring system places this vulnerability at a base score of 2.7, reflecting low confidentiality and integrity impacts, yet the vulnerability's potential for unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations creates a substantial risk for retail data integrity. The attack vector requires physical access to the system, which means that an attacker must have physical proximity to the point of service terminal to exploit this vulnerability. This physical access requirement, while limiting the attack surface, does not eliminate the threat as it can be achieved through social engineering, insider threats, or opportunistic attacks where an attacker gains temporary physical access to the device.
The operational impact of successful exploitation can result in unauthorized modification of retail data, potentially affecting inventory management, transaction records, and customer information. The vulnerability also enables unauthorized read access to a subset of accessible data, which could expose sensitive retail information including customer purchase histories, product pricing, and transaction details. This unauthorized access capability poses significant risks to both business operations and customer privacy, potentially leading to financial losses, regulatory compliance violations, and reputational damage. The requirement for human interaction beyond the attacker's physical access indicates that social engineering or manipulation of legitimate users may be necessary to complete the attack, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations with insufficient user awareness training programs.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, beginning with immediate patching of affected systems to the latest supported versions of Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service. Physical security measures must be enhanced to prevent unauthorized access to point of service terminals, including secure storage of devices, restricted access areas, and monitoring of device locations. Access control mechanisms should be strengthened to ensure that only authorized personnel can perform administrative functions on the system, and regular security awareness training should be conducted to prevent social engineering attacks that could exploit this vulnerability. The implementation of network segmentation and monitoring solutions can help detect unauthorized access attempts and provide early warning of potential exploitation. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify similar weaknesses in their retail infrastructure, following industry standards such as those outlined in the CWE database for access control vulnerabilities and ATT&CK framework for physical access exploitation techniques.
This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches in retail environments where physical access controls may be insufficient to prevent exploitation. The low CVSS score should not diminish the importance of addressing this vulnerability promptly, as retail environments face unique security challenges that require comprehensive protection strategies. The combination of physical access requirements and social engineering elements makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous for organizations that do not maintain robust physical security protocols and user awareness training programs. Regular security audits and vulnerability management processes should include assessment of point of service systems to identify and remediate similar access control weaknesses that could be exploited by determined attackers.