CVE-2022-21576 in FLEXCUBE Universal Banking
Summary
by MITRE • 07/20/2022
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking product of Oracle Financial Services Applications (component: Infrastructure). Supported versions that are affected are 12.3, 12.4, 14.0-14.3 and 14.5. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking accessible data as well as unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.4 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/13/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-21576 represents a significant security weakness within Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking, a comprehensive banking application suite widely deployed in financial institutions globally. This vulnerability resides within the infrastructure component of Oracle Financial Services Applications, specifically affecting versions 12.3, 12.4, 14.0 through 14.3, and 14.5. The affected system architecture presents a critical exposure point that enables malicious actors to exploit network-based attack vectors with relatively low privileges, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on this banking platform.
The technical flaw manifests as a difficulty-to-exploit vulnerability that operates through HTTP network access, requiring minimal privileges from attackers who can leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized access to sensitive banking data. This vulnerability operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration framework as a weakness related to insufficient authorization mechanisms, specifically categorized under CWE-284 which addresses improper access control. The attack vector requires network connectivity via HTTP protocols, positioning this vulnerability within the ATT&CK framework under the T1190 - Exploit Public-Facing Application technique, where adversaries target accessible services to gain initial access to enterprise networks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data access, potentially enabling attackers to achieve complete compromise of all accessible data within the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking environment. This comprehensive access capability allows unauthorized modification, insertion, and deletion of critical banking data, representing a severe integrity breach that could result in financial fraud and regulatory violations. Additionally, the vulnerability enables partial denial of service conditions that could disrupt banking operations and customer access to financial services, affecting business continuity and operational resilience. The CVSS 3.1 scoring system rates this vulnerability at 6.4, reflecting high confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and low availability impact, though the actual operational consequences can be far more severe in practice.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through official Oracle patches and updates, as recommended in the Oracle Critical Patch Update advisories. Network segmentation and access controls should be enhanced to limit exposure of the vulnerable application to untrusted networks. Security monitoring should be strengthened to detect anomalous HTTP traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification as low privilege requiring access makes it particularly concerning for organizations that have not implemented proper network access controls or have legacy systems with minimal security hardening. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in the broader financial services infrastructure that could provide additional attack vectors for sophisticated adversaries seeking to compromise banking systems.