CVE-2021-2371 in Coherence
Summary
by MITRE • 07/21/2021
Vulnerability in the Oracle Coherence product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are 3.7.1.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0 and 14.1.1.0.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via T3, IIOP to compromise Oracle Coherence. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle Coherence. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/24/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-2371 represents a critical availability threat within Oracle Coherence, a distributed caching and processing platform integral to Oracle Fusion Middleware ecosystems. This weakness resides in the Core component of Oracle Coherence and affects multiple version streams including 3.7.1.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0, and 14.1.1.0.0, making it particularly concerning given the widespread deployment of these middleware versions across enterprise environments. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage it without requiring specialized skills or privileged access, presenting a significant risk to organizations relying on Oracle Coherence for critical data processing and caching operations.
The technical flaw manifests through insufficient input validation within the T3 and IIOP protocol handlers, which are standard communication mechanisms used by Oracle Coherence for distributed object communication. When maliciously crafted requests are sent to the affected Coherence instances, the system fails to properly validate incoming data structures, leading to potential memory corruption or resource exhaustion conditions. This vulnerability operates at the network level, requiring only basic network connectivity to exploit, which aligns with the CVSS vector indicating network access availability (AV:N) and low attack complexity (AC:L). The lack of authentication requirements (PR:N) means that any network-connected attacker can potentially target affected systems without needing valid credentials, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in exposed environments.
The operational impact of CVE-2021-2371 extends beyond simple service disruption, as successful exploitation can result in complete denial of service conditions that may require system restarts to resolve. The vulnerability's ability to cause repeated crashes or system hangs creates persistent availability issues that can severely impact business continuity, particularly in mission-critical applications that depend on Oracle Coherence for data caching, distributed processing, and real-time data synchronization. Organizations utilizing these middleware components for financial services, e-commerce platforms, or any system requiring high availability and consistent data access face significant operational risks when exposed to this vulnerability. The CVSS base score of 7.5 reflects the substantial availability impact (A:H) while maintaining a moderate confidentiality and integrity impact score of N, indicating that the primary concern is system availability rather than data compromise or modification.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies focusing on network segmentation and access control measures to restrict exposure of Oracle Coherence instances to untrusted networks. The most effective immediate solution involves disabling or restricting access to T3 and IIOP ports at the firewall level, particularly when these protocols are not essential for business operations. Additionally, implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect and alert on anomalous traffic patterns targeting these protocols can help identify exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments should verify that only necessary services are exposed and that proper access controls are implemented. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which addresses "Improper Input Validation" and maps to ATT&CK technique T1190, "Exploit Public-Facing Application," highlighting the importance of securing externally accessible services. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems specifically configured to detect patterns associated with this vulnerability, as well as establishing incident response procedures that can quickly address exploitation attempts. The long-term mitigation strategy should include planning for affected version upgrades to patched releases, ensuring that all Oracle Coherence deployments are updated to versions that address this specific vulnerability through official Oracle security patches.