CVE-2021-2255 in Service Contracts
Summary
by MITRE • 04/23/2021
Vulnerability in the Oracle Service Contracts product of Oracle E-Business Suite (component: Authoring). Supported versions that are affected are 12.1.1-12.1.3. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Service Contracts. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle Service Contracts accessible data as well as unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Service Contracts accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 8.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/25/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-2255 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle Service Contracts, a component of the Oracle E-Business Suite ecosystem. This vulnerability specifically affects versions 12.1.1 through 12.1.3, making it a widespread concern for organizations utilizing these older release versions. The flaw resides in the Authoring component of the Service Contracts product, which is responsible for content creation and management within the service contract framework. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage relatively simple attack vectors to compromise the system, making it particularly dangerous for organizations that have not yet upgraded to more secure versions.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authorization controls within the Oracle Service Contracts Authoring component. Attackers with low privilege levels and network access via HTTP can exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to critical data within the service contracts system. The vulnerability allows for three primary types of unauthorized operations: creation, deletion, and modification of data. This comprehensive access capability means that malicious actors could fundamentally alter the integrity of service contract information, potentially leading to financial losses, operational disruptions, and compliance violations. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 reflects the severity of impact, with high confidentiality and integrity implications, indicating that the vulnerability could enable attackers to access or modify sensitive business data.
From an operational standpoint, the impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data compromise to encompass potential business disruption and financial damage. Organizations relying on Oracle Service Contracts for customer service management, warranty tracking, and contract administration face significant risk when this vulnerability is exploited. The unauthorized access to all Oracle Service Contracts accessible data means that attackers could potentially view confidential customer information, service agreement terms, and financial data related to service contracts. The complete access capability suggests that attackers could not only read data but also modify or delete critical service contract information, potentially leading to service disruptions, billing errors, or fraudulent contract modifications. This vulnerability particularly impacts organizations using older Oracle E-Business Suite versions that may not have received the latest security patches, creating a window of opportunity for attackers to exploit these known weaknesses.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic example of insufficient authorization checks in enterprise software. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this as a privilege escalation technique, specifically targeting the 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation' tactic. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to supported Oracle E-Business Suite versions that contain the necessary security patches, implementing network segmentation to limit access to the vulnerable components, and conducting thorough access control reviews. Additionally, monitoring network traffic for suspicious HTTP requests targeting the Service Contracts Authoring component can help detect exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of maintaining current software versions and implementing robust access control measures to protect enterprise service contract management systems from unauthorized access and modification attempts.