CVE-2021-35686 in Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure
Summary
by MITRE • 01/19/2022
Vulnerability in the Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure product of Oracle Financial Services Applications (component: Unified Metadata Manager). Supported versions that are affected are 8.0.7-8.1.1. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 4.3 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/23/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-35686 resides within the Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure product, specifically within the Unified Metadata Manager component. This weakness affects versions 8.0.7 through 8.1.1, representing a significant exposure within the financial services analytics infrastructure that organizations rely upon for critical business intelligence and reporting operations. The vulnerability classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage relatively straightforward attack vectors to compromise the system, making it particularly concerning for enterprises managing sensitive financial data.
The technical flaw manifests as a privilege escalation vulnerability that operates through HTTP network access, requiring only low privilege credentials to execute successful attacks. This weakness creates an unauthorized read access pathway to a subset of the infrastructure's accessible data, allowing attackers to extract sensitive information without requiring elevated privileges. The CVSS 3.1 score of 4.3 reflects the confidentiality impact, indicating that while the vulnerability does not permit data modification or system disruption, it does enable unauthorized data disclosure that could significantly impact financial institutions' operational security and regulatory compliance. The attack vector assessment of AV:N (Network) with AC:L (Low) and PR:L (Low) demonstrates that this vulnerability can be exploited remotely by attackers with minimal technical expertise and access requirements.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, potentially compromising the integrity of financial analytics and reporting systems that organizations depend upon for decision-making processes. Financial services institutions utilizing affected versions may experience unauthorized access to metadata, configuration information, and potentially sensitive business intelligence that could be used for competitive advantage or regulatory violations. The subset access limitation suggests that while attackers cannot access all system data, they can still obtain enough information to potentially undermine business operations, compromise competitive positioning, or facilitate more sophisticated attacks. This vulnerability directly impacts the confidentiality pillar of the CIA triad and aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-312 (Sensitive Data Exposure) categories.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to restrict access to the affected infrastructure, enforcing strict access controls and authentication mechanisms, and applying the latest Oracle security patches. The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078 (Valid Accounts) and T1041 (Exfiltration Over C2 Channel) as attackers could leverage compromised accounts to extract sensitive data. System administrators should conduct comprehensive network monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts and implement robust audit trails to track metadata access patterns. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be performed to identify similar weaknesses in the broader financial services analytics ecosystem, particularly focusing on metadata management components that often serve as attack vectors for sophisticated adversaries targeting financial institutions' data assets.