CVE-2020-14611 in WebCenter Portal
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebCenter Portal product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Composer). Supported versions that are affected are 12.2.1.3.0 and 12.2.1.4.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle WebCenter Portal. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle WebCenter Portal accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle WebCenter Portal accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle WebCenter Portal. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 8.6 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/01/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-14611 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle WebCenter Portal Fusion Middleware component known as Composer. This vulnerability affects specifically version 12.2.1.3.0 and 12.2.1.4.0 of the Oracle WebCenter Portal product, making it a targeted issue for organizations utilizing these particular software versions. The flaw resides in the authentication mechanisms of the Composer component, which fails to properly validate incoming requests, creating an exploitable entry point for malicious actors.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and authentication checks within the WebCenter Portal's HTTP handling capabilities. An attacker can exploit this weakness without requiring any prior authentication credentials or privileged access to the system. The vulnerability operates through HTTP network connections, allowing remote exploitation from any location with network access to the affected system. This characteristic places the vulnerability in the category of network-based attacks that can be executed from external locations, significantly expanding the potential attack surface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, affecting all three core principles of information security. The CVSS 3.1 scoring system assigns a base score of 8.6, indicating a high severity threat with impacts spanning confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Attackers can achieve unauthorized modification of critical data through the ability to create, delete, or modify content within the portal system. Additionally, the vulnerability enables unauthorized read access to sensitive data subsets, potentially exposing confidential information that should remain protected. The partial denial of service aspect means that attackers can disrupt system operations, affecting availability of services for legitimate users.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication issues, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1499 for endpoint denial of service. The attack vector classification as network-based (AV:N) combined with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no privilege requirements (PR:N) makes this particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by threat actors with minimal technical expertise or resources. Organizations running affected versions face significant risk of data compromise, operational disruption, and potential regulatory compliance violations.
The recommended mitigations include immediate patching of the affected Oracle WebCenter Portal versions to the latest security releases provided by Oracle. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit access to the affected systems, deploy web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and conduct thorough security assessments of their portal environments. Additionally, monitoring for suspicious network activity and implementing robust access controls can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable underscores the urgent need for remediation, as attackers can potentially leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized system access and compromise sensitive organizational data.