CVE-2023-21906 in Banking Virtual Account Management
Summary
by MITRE • 04/18/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management product of Oracle Financial Services Applications (component: SMS Module). Supported versions that are affected are 14.5, 14.6 and 14.7. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management accessible data as well as unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.1 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/10/2023
This vulnerability resides within the Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management product, specifically within the SMS Module component of Oracle Financial Services Applications. The affected versions span across 14.5, 14.6, and 14.7, indicating a widespread issue within the product line that requires immediate attention from financial institutions utilizing these systems. The vulnerability classification as easily exploitable suggests that the attack vector requires minimal technical sophistication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where financial data integrity is paramount. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 reflects a moderate to high severity threat with significant impacts to both confidentiality and integrity, demonstrating the potential for substantial data compromise within financial services infrastructure.
The technical flaw manifests as a privilege escalation vulnerability that requires an attacker to possess high privileges within the system while utilizing network access through HTTP protocols. This configuration creates a dangerous attack surface where authenticated users with elevated permissions can exploit the vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to critical financial data. The requirement for human interaction from individuals other than the attacker indicates that social engineering or user manipulation may be necessary to initiate the attack, potentially involving phishing campaigns or deceptive practices that trick legitimate users into performing actions that enable the exploitation. This human factor element significantly increases the attack surface and makes the vulnerability more challenging to defend against through purely technical measures.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data access issues, as successful exploitation can result in unauthorized creation, deletion, or modification of critical financial data within the virtual account management system. This capability allows attackers to fundamentally alter the integrity of financial records, potentially leading to unauthorized transactions, account manipulations, and complete data corruption within the banking infrastructure. The potential for unauthorized access to all accessible data represents a complete breakdown in data protection controls, where attackers could potentially access sensitive financial information belonging to multiple customers or institutional data. The CVSS vector specifically indicates that the attack requires high privileges but low complexity, suggesting that the vulnerability may be related to improper access controls or authentication mechanisms within the SMS Module that allow privilege escalation through specific API calls or administrative functions.
The security implications of CVE-2023-21906 align with CWE-284, which describes improper access control vulnerabilities that allow unauthorized users to gain access to resources or perform operations beyond their authorized permissions. This vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and credential access, as the requirement for high privileged access suggests that legitimate user accounts are being leveraged to perform unauthorized operations. Organizations must implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect unusual access patterns and unauthorized modifications to financial data. The vulnerability's impact on both confidentiality and integrity demonstrates the need for robust data protection measures including encryption, access logging, and regular security assessments. Financial institutions should immediately implement patch management procedures to address this vulnerability while also enhancing their user access controls and monitoring systems to detect potential exploitation attempts. The combination of technical sophistication required for exploitation and the severe operational impact makes this vulnerability particularly concerning for the financial services industry where data integrity and regulatory compliance are critical requirements.