CVE-2021-2043 in PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools
Summary
by MITRE • 01/20/2021
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools product of Oracle PeopleSoft (component: Portal). Supported versions that are affected are 8.56, 8.57 and 8.58. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/17/2021
This vulnerability exists within the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools product, specifically within the Portal component of Oracle PeopleSoft. The affected versions include 8.56, 8.57, and 8.58, representing a significant attack surface for organizations utilizing these legacy systems. The vulnerability classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage this flaw without requiring specialized tools or extensive technical knowledge, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where such systems handle sensitive business data and processes.
The technical flaw manifests as a security weakness that allows unauthenticated attackers to access PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools through HTTP network connections. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the authentication and authorization mechanisms that should protect enterprise applications from external threats. The vulnerability requires human interaction from users other than the attacker, suggesting that the attack vector may involve social engineering or user manipulation to trigger the exploit, though the underlying technical weakness remains accessible to unauthorized network access.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate PeopleTools component to potentially affect additional products within the Oracle PeopleSoft ecosystem. This cascading effect demonstrates how vulnerabilities in core enterprise applications can create ripple effects throughout complex business environments where multiple interconnected systems rely on shared authentication and data access mechanisms. The successful exploitation can result in unauthorized modification of data through update, insert, or delete operations, while also enabling unauthorized read access to sensitive information within the accessible data scope.
From a security impact perspective, the CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 6.1 reflects the balance between the exploitability of the vulnerability and its potential consequences, with confidentiality and integrity impacts rated as low to moderate. The CVSS vector analysis reveals that the attack requires network access with low complexity, no privileges, and user interaction, while the scope of impact is considered constrained but potentially significant. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which addresses authentication failures, and could be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1190 for exploitation of remote services, demonstrating how attackers might leverage such weaknesses to gain unauthorized access to enterprise systems.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to limit access to PeopleSoft components, deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter HTTP traffic, and enforcement of strong access controls for Portal components. Regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other enterprise applications, while patch management procedures should be established to ensure timely updates to affected versions. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of user education and awareness programs to prevent social engineering attacks that may exploit the human interaction requirement, as well as maintaining comprehensive monitoring and incident response capabilities to detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts.