CVE-2020-6311 in Bank Analyzer
Summary
by MITRE • 01/25/2023
Banking services from SAP 9.0 (Bank Analyzer), version - 500, and SAP S/4HANA for financial products subledger, version ? 100, does not correctly perform necessary authorization checks for an authenticated user due to Improper Authorization checks, that may cause a system administrator to create incorrect authorization proposals. This may result in privilege escalation and may expose restricted banking data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-6311 represents a critical authorization flaw within SAP banking services, specifically affecting SAP 9.0 Bank Analyzer version 500 and SAP S/4HANA financial products subledger version 100. This issue stems from improper authorization checks that fail to adequately validate user permissions, creating a significant security gap in the financial services infrastructure. The flaw allows authenticated users to bypass intended access controls, potentially enabling unauthorized data exposure and privilege escalation within banking systems. The vulnerability directly impacts the integrity of SAP's authorization framework, which is fundamental to protecting sensitive financial information and maintaining regulatory compliance in banking environments.
The technical implementation of this authorization bypass occurs through insufficient validation mechanisms that should normally enforce strict access controls for banking operations. When users authenticate to the system, the authorization checks fail to properly verify whether the user possesses the appropriate privileges for specific banking functions. This weakness can be exploited by malicious actors who may attempt to create incorrect authorization proposals, effectively undermining the security controls that are meant to protect sensitive banking data. The vulnerability manifests as a failure in the authorization decision process, where the system does not correctly evaluate user permissions against required security policies, leading to potential unauthorized access to restricted banking information.
The operational impact of CVE-2020-6311 extends beyond simple data exposure to encompass serious privilege escalation capabilities that could enable attackers to gain elevated system access. System administrators who rely on the proper functioning of authorization controls may inadvertently create erroneous authorization proposals, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive financial data. This vulnerability particularly affects financial institutions that depend on SAP solutions for their core banking operations, as it could result in unauthorized transactions, data breaches, and violations of financial regulations. The risk is compounded by the fact that the flaw affects critical banking components where proper authorization is essential for maintaining data integrity and compliance with financial auditing requirements.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including comprehensive authorization review processes, enhanced monitoring of user activities, and deployment of SAP security patches when available. The flaw aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization in software systems, and represents a significant concern within the ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation techniques. Security teams should conduct thorough access control assessments and implement additional verification mechanisms beyond the default SAP authorization checks. Regular security audits and privileged access management controls become critical defensive measures against exploitation of this authorization bypass vulnerability. Organizations must also consider implementing network segmentation and enhanced logging to detect potential misuse of the authorization flaw and maintain compliance with financial industry security standards.