CVE-2020-2683 in FLEXCUBE Universal Banking
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking product of Oracle Financial Services Applications (component: Infrastructure). Supported versions that are affected are 12.0.1-12.4.0 and 14.0.0-14.3.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTPS to compromise Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. 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 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 • 03/22/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-2683 resides within Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, a comprehensive financial services application platform widely deployed in banking and financial institutions globally. This vulnerability specifically affects the infrastructure component of the Oracle Financial Services Applications suite and impacts versions ranging from 12.0.1 through 12.4.0 and 14.0.0 through 14.3.0. The affected system represents a critical component of financial institutions' core banking infrastructure, making this vulnerability particularly concerning given the sensitive nature of the data and operations it controls. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with minimal privileges and network access can potentially compromise the system without requiring extensive technical expertise or privileged access within the organization.
The technical flaw manifests as a weakness in the authentication and authorization mechanisms within the FLEXCUBE Universal Banking infrastructure, allowing attackers to bypass normal access controls through HTTPS network connections. This vulnerability operates at a fundamental level within the application's security architecture, where proper validation and access control checks fail to adequately protect sensitive data and operations. The attack vector through HTTPS indicates that the vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring physical access to the network or system, making it particularly dangerous in modern networked environments where secure communication channels are the norm rather than the exception. The vulnerability's low privilege requirement means that even attackers with minimal access rights can potentially exploit the flaw, suggesting a design or implementation weakness in the application's access control model.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data access, as successful exploitation can result in unauthorized modification of critical financial data through update, insert, and delete operations. This capability allows attackers to manipulate transaction records, customer information, account balances, and other sensitive financial data that forms the backbone of banking operations. Additionally, the vulnerability enables unauthorized read access to a subset of accessible data, potentially exposing confidential customer information, transaction histories, and financial records that could be used for fraud, identity theft, or other malicious activities. The CVSS 3.0 base score of 5.4 reflects the moderate severity of the impact, with confidentiality and integrity impacts rated as low, though the cumulative effect of unauthorized data modification and access can be devastating to financial institutions' operations and regulatory compliance. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-287 which addresses authentication issues and CWE-284 which covers improper access control, both of which are fundamental security weaknesses that can lead to data compromise and system integrity violations.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including applying the relevant Oracle security patches and updates to bring their FLEXCUBE Universal Banking installations to supported versions that address the authentication and authorization flaws. Network segmentation and access control measures should be enhanced to limit the exposure of the vulnerable components, while monitoring and logging should be strengthened to detect potential exploitation attempts. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of the affected versions within their environment and implement network-level controls to restrict access to the vulnerable application components. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under privilege escalation and credential access techniques, as attackers can leverage the flaw to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and operations within the financial application environment. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to ensure that similar vulnerabilities are not present in other components of the financial services infrastructure, as this type of authentication bypass vulnerability represents a significant risk to the overall security posture of financial institutions relying on such critical banking applications.