CVE-2021-35571 in PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Academic Advisement
Summary
by MITRE • 10/20/2021
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Academic Advisement product of Oracle PeopleSoft (component: Advising Notes). The supported version that is affected is 9.2. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Academic Advisement. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Academic Advisement accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Academic Advisement accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.4 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-35571 affects Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Academic Advisement version 9.2, specifically within the Advising Notes component. This represents a significant security weakness that demonstrates the ongoing challenges in enterprise application security, particularly in academic management systems that handle sensitive student information. The vulnerability resides in a component that manages academic advising notes, which are critical elements in student academic progression and institutional decision-making processes.
This vulnerability constitutes a low-privilege attack vector that can be exploited through standard HTTP network connections, making it particularly dangerous as it requires minimal access rights to initiate exploitation. The CVSS 3.1 scoring of 5.4 indicates a medium severity vulnerability that combines both confidentiality and integrity impacts, reflecting the potential for unauthorized data manipulation and access. The attack vector AV:N indicates network-based exploitation, while AC:L suggests the attack requires low complexity to execute, and PR:L demonstrates that only low privileges are needed to exploit this weakness, making it accessible to a broader range of potential attackers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data access, as successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized modification of academic records through update, insert, or delete operations. This capability directly violates data integrity principles and can fundamentally alter student academic histories, potentially affecting degree progression, financial aid eligibility, and institutional compliance with educational regulations. Additionally, the unauthorized read access to subset data means that sensitive academic information could be exposed to unauthorized parties, creating privacy violations and potential legal consequences under various data protection frameworks.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic example of insufficient authorization checks within web applications. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this under privilege escalation and data access techniques, where adversaries can leverage weak access controls to gain unauthorized data manipulation capabilities. Organizations using PeopleSoft systems face significant risk as this vulnerability can be exploited by attackers with minimal technical expertise, potentially leading to academic record tampering that could compromise institutional credibility and student outcomes.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, enhanced access controls, and comprehensive monitoring of HTTP traffic to detect anomalous access patterns. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the PeopleSoft suite. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of timely patch management and adherence to Oracle's security advisories, as this issue affects a supported version that should have received appropriate security updates to prevent such access control weaknesses from persisting in production environments.