CVE-2020-2685 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 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. 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:N/UI:R/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-2020-2685 resides within Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, a comprehensive financial services application platform that serves as the backbone for banking operations across numerous institutions globally. This particular flaw manifests in the infrastructure component of the Oracle Financial Services Applications suite, affecting versions ranging from 12.0.1 through 12.4.0 and 14.0.0 through 14.3.0. The vulnerability represents a critical security gap that enables unauthorized actors to compromise the system without requiring authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where financial data integrity is paramount.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through unauthenticated network access via HTTP protocols, presenting an attack surface that can be leveraged by remote threat actors. The CVSS 3.0 scoring system rates this vulnerability with a base score of 5.4, indicating a medium severity level that reflects the balance between accessibility and impact. The attack vector AV:N (network) combined with low attack complexity AC:L (low) and no privileges required PR:N (none) demonstrates that the vulnerability can be exploited from external networks with minimal technical expertise. However, the requirement for human interaction UI:R (required) suggests that successful exploitation typically necessitates user engagement, potentially through social engineering or phishing techniques that trick legitimate users into performing actions that facilitate the attack.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, encompassing unauthorized modification capabilities that allow attackers to alter financial records, transaction data, or system configurations. The compromise affects both confidentiality and integrity aspects of the system, with potential for unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations against sensitive data accessible through the FLEXCUBE platform. Additionally, attackers can gain read access to subsets of data that may include customer financial information, transaction histories, or internal banking operations that could be exploited for fraudulent activities or further system penetration. This dual impact on both data integrity and confidentiality creates a significant risk for financial institutions that rely on FLEXCUBE for core banking operations.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and potentially CWE-311 (Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data) categories, reflecting the fundamental breakdown in access control mechanisms that enables unauthorized system interaction. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this vulnerability under T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and potentially T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) if the attack vector involves DNS manipulation or similar network protocols. Organizations implementing FLEXCUBE Universal Banking should prioritize immediate remediation through official Oracle patches, network segmentation to limit exposure, and enhanced monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. The human interaction requirement suggests that employee security awareness training becomes critical to prevent social engineering attacks that could facilitate exploitation of this vulnerability, while network-level controls such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems should be configured to monitor and restrict HTTP traffic to the affected components.