CVE-2020-14843 in Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 10/21/2020
Vulnerability in the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Analytics Actions). Supported versions that are affected are 5.5.0.0.0, 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 Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.1 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/24/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-14843 resides within Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition's Analytics Actions component, representing a critical security weakness that affects multiple version streams including 5.5.0.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0, and 12.2.1.4.0 of the Fusion Middleware suite. This vulnerability operates at the network level and presents an easily exploitable threat that does not require authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous for organizations running affected systems. The flaw manifests through HTTP network access channels, allowing attackers to compromise the target environment without prior authorization, which aligns with the Common Weakness Enumeration classification under CWE-284 for improper access control mechanisms.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control measures within the Analytics Actions functionality, enabling malicious actors to manipulate system behavior through crafted HTTP requests. The CVSS 3.1 scoring of 7.1 reflects the severity of potential impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, with the vector indicating network-based attack surface, low attack complexity, no privilege requirements, and requiring user interaction. This vulnerability operates within the context of the broader Oracle Fusion Middleware ecosystem, meaning that successful exploitation could potentially extend beyond the immediate BI component to affect related Oracle products that share common infrastructure or authentication mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data access, as it enables attackers to perform unauthorized modifications to the system's data state through update, insert, or delete operations on specific data sets. Additionally, the vulnerability permits unauthorized read access to sensitive data subsets, creating potential exposure of confidential business intelligence information that organizations rely upon for strategic decision making. The partial denial of service aspect introduces further operational concerns, as attackers could disrupt system availability for legitimate users while maintaining access to system resources. This multi-faceted impact pattern demonstrates how a single vulnerability can create cascading effects throughout an organization's data processing and analysis capabilities.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network-level access controls to restrict HTTP access to the affected BI components, deployment of web application firewalls to filter malicious requests, and application-level authentication enforcement for critical functions. The ATT&CK framework classification for this vulnerability would align with techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access through network-based attacks, with potential lateral movement opportunities once initial access is achieved. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in the broader Oracle Fusion Middleware environment, as this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of comprehensive security coverage across all components of enterprise middleware platforms. The affected versions represent a significant risk surface that requires immediate attention from security teams to prevent exploitation and maintain organizational data integrity.