CVE-2023-21916 in PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools
Summary
by MITRE • 04/18/2023
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools product of Oracle PeopleSoft (component: Web Server). Supported versions that are affected are 8.58, 8.59 and 8.60. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized read access to a subset of PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.3 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-21916 represents a significant security weakness within Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools, specifically within the Web Server component. This flaw affects versions 8.58, 8.59, and 8.60, making it a widespread concern across multiple iterations of the PeopleTools platform. The vulnerability classifies as easily exploitable, meaning that attackers with minimal technical expertise can leverage this weakness without requiring privileged access or specialized tools. The attack vector operates through HTTP network connections, indicating that the vulnerability can be exploited from external networks without the need for authentication or prior access to the internal system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls within the web server implementation of PeopleTools, allowing unauthorized users to bypass normal authentication mechanisms. This weakness specifically impacts the confidentiality aspect of the system's security model, as demonstrated by the CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 which indicates a low to medium severity impact. The vulnerability does not provide modification or denial of service capabilities, but rather focuses on unauthorized data access. The attack requires no user interaction and can be executed with low complexity, making it particularly dangerous for organizations running affected versions of PeopleSoft. This flaw aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic example of insufficient authorization checks in web applications.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-21916 extends beyond simple data exposure, as it can potentially compromise sensitive business information within PeopleSoft environments. Organizations utilizing PeopleTools for financial management, human resources, or other critical business functions face significant risk from this vulnerability, as attackers could access confidential employee data, financial records, or proprietary business information. The vulnerability affects a subset of accessible data rather than all system information, but this selective access capability still poses substantial risk to business operations and compliance requirements. Organizations that have not yet patched or mitigated this vulnerability may find their PeopleSoft systems vulnerable to data exfiltration attacks, potentially leading to regulatory violations, financial losses, and reputational damage. The lack of requirement for user authentication or privileged access makes this vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to exploit enterprise systems without detection.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation efforts by applying the relevant Oracle security patches for CVE-2023-21916 as soon as possible. The mitigation strategy should include implementing network-level controls such as firewalls and access control lists to restrict HTTP access to PeopleTools web servers only from trusted networks. Additional defensive measures include deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious HTTP traffic patterns and implementing comprehensive network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. Security teams should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any additional unpatched systems within their PeopleSoft environments and consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized data access attempts. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK technique T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) and T1046 (Network Service Scanning) suggests that attackers may utilize these methods to discover and exploit vulnerable systems, making proactive network monitoring essential for early detection and response.