CVE-2023-21961 in Hyperion Essbase Administration Services
Summary
by MITRE • 07/19/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services product of Oracle Essbase (component: EAS Administration and EAS Console). The supported version that is affected is 21.4.3.0.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services executes to compromise Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services. While the vulnerability is in Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services, attacks may significantly impact additional products (scope change). Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.0 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/10/2023
The CVE-2023-21961 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw within Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services, specifically affecting version 21.4.3.0.0. This vulnerability resides in the EAS Administration and EAS Console components of the Oracle Essbase suite, which are integral parts of enterprise financial planning and analysis systems. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with sufficient privileges can leverage this flaw without requiring extensive technical expertise or specialized tools. The attack vector is local access, meaning that an adversary must already have authenticated access to the system infrastructure where the Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services operates, typically requiring valid credentials with elevated privileges.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls and privilege management within the administration services. This flaw allows a high-privileged attacker who has already established a foothold on the target infrastructure to escalate their access and compromise the entire Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services environment. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond the immediate component, as indicated by the scope change designation in the CVSS vector, meaning that successful exploitation can affect additional products within the Oracle ecosystem. This characteristic aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) which describes weaknesses where the system does not properly enforce access restrictions, and reflects the ATT&CK technique T1078.004 (Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts) where attackers leverage legitimate credentials to access systems. The CVSS 3.1 score of 6.0 reflects the medium severity level with high confidentiality impact, demonstrating that unauthorized access to critical financial data and complete access to all accessible data represents a significant risk to enterprise security.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial for organizations relying on Oracle Hyperion Essbase for financial planning and analysis. Successful exploitation can result in unauthorized access to sensitive financial data, potentially exposing proprietary business information, revenue projections, cost analyses, and other critical financial metrics. The complete access to all Oracle Hyperion Essbase Administration Services accessible data means that attackers could manipulate financial reports, alter planning models, or extract confidential information that could be used for competitive advantage or financial fraud. Organizations using this software in enterprise environments face increased risk of data breaches, regulatory compliance violations, and potential financial losses. The vulnerability's local access requirement suggests that it may be particularly concerning in environments where privileged accounts are compromised through social engineering, credential theft, or insider threats, as these scenarios provide the necessary access level to exploit the flaw. The security implications extend to business continuity and regulatory compliance, particularly in industries subject to strict financial reporting requirements and data protection regulations. Organizations must implement immediate mitigation strategies including access control reviews, privilege management enforcement, and monitoring for suspicious activities within their Oracle Hyperion Essbase environments to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability.