CVE-2023-21892 in Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 01/18/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Visual Analyzer). Supported versions that are affected are 5.9.0.0.0 and 6.4.0.0.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, attacks may significantly impact additional products (scope change). Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 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:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/13/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-21892 affects Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition within the Fusion Middleware suite, specifically targeting the Visual Analyzer component. This security flaw represents a significant concern for organizations relying on Oracle's business intelligence platforms, as it exists in versions 5.9.0.0.0 and 6.4.0.0.0. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that threat actors can leverage relatively straightforward techniques to compromise affected systems. The attack vector requires network access via HTTP, making it accessible to remote adversaries without requiring physical system access. The CVSS 3.1 score of 5.4 reflects a medium severity threat, though the potential impact on data integrity and confidentiality cannot be understated given the nature of business intelligence systems.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the Visual Analyzer component, which allows low-privileged attackers to execute unauthorized operations against the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or user manipulation may be necessary to complete the attack chain, potentially involving phishing campaigns or targeted deception techniques. However, this human factor does not diminish the severity of the vulnerability, as it demonstrates that even basic user privileges can be leveraged to cause significant data compromise. The scope change aspect indicates that successful exploitation may extend beyond the immediate target system to impact additional Oracle products within the ecosystem, creating a broader attack surface.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-21892 extends beyond simple data access violations, as attackers can potentially modify or delete sensitive business intelligence data. This capability directly relates to CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege that should govern all enterprise systems. The confidentiality and integrity impacts are particularly concerning for business intelligence platforms, where data manipulation can significantly affect decision-making processes and strategic planning. Organizations utilizing Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition face potential exposure to unauthorized read access of sensitive business data, which could include financial metrics, operational performance indicators, or competitive intelligence. The attack scenario aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access, particularly focusing on the use of legitimate credentials and application-level access to achieve unauthorized system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patch management through Oracle's official security updates, as the affected versions represent specific release cycles that have known remediation paths. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of the Visual Analyzer component to unnecessary network traffic, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect anomalous access patterns or unauthorized data modifications. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition installations and implement privileged access management solutions to reduce the attack surface. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patches in controlled environments before production deployment, ensuring that critical business intelligence functionality remains intact while addressing the identified security gap. Additionally, user awareness training should be reinforced to prevent successful social engineering attempts that could facilitate exploitation of this vulnerability.