CVE-2023-21925 in Health Sciences InForm
Summary
by MITRE • 04/18/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle Health Sciences InForm product of Oracle Health Sciences Applications (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 6.3.1.3 and Prior to 7.0.0.1. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Health Sciences InForm. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Health Sciences InForm. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.3 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/12/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-21925 affects Oracle Health Sciences InForm, a critical component within Oracle Health Sciences Applications designed for clinical data management and electronic data capture. This particular flaw exists within the Core component of the software and impacts versions prior to 6.3.1.3 and 7.0.0.1, representing a significant security gap that exposes organizations handling sensitive healthcare information to potential exploitation. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers require minimal technical expertise or resources to leverage this weakness, making it particularly dangerous in environments where healthcare data integrity and availability are paramount.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication mechanisms within the HTTP communication layer of the Oracle Health Sciences InForm application. Attackers can exploit this weakness without requiring any prior authentication credentials, leveraging network access to perform malicious activities against the system. This unauthenticated access capability represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security architecture, as it allows adversaries to directly interact with core system functions without proper authorization. The vulnerability specifically targets the availability aspect of the system's security triad, enabling attackers to execute partial denial of service attacks that can disrupt normal operational procedures and compromise the system's ability to process clinical data effectively.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for healthcare organizations that rely on Oracle Health Sciences InForm for clinical trial data management and regulatory compliance. The partial denial of service condition can result in interrupted data capture processes, delayed clinical trial progress, and potential data loss that may affect patient safety and regulatory compliance. Healthcare institutions utilizing this software face increased risk of operational disruption during critical phases of clinical research, where continuous data availability is essential for study progression and regulatory reporting. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 indicates a medium severity threat that requires immediate attention due to its ease of exploitation and potential impact on system availability.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates to versions 6.3.1.3 and 7.0.0.1, which address the authentication bypass vulnerability. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit unnecessary exposure of the affected application to external networks. Additionally, implementing monitoring and logging mechanisms can help detect potential exploitation attempts and provide early warning of security incidents. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any additional exposure points within their healthcare information systems and ensure proper configuration management practices are maintained. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues and represents a significant concern within the healthcare sector's cybersecurity landscape, particularly when considering the ATT&CK framework's relevance to credential exposure and privilege escalation techniques that attackers might employ.