CVE-2024-21180 in PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools
Summary
by MITRE • 07/17/2024
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools product of Oracle PeopleSoft (component: OpenSearch Dashboards). Supported versions that are affected are 8.59, 8.60 and 8.61. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools, attacks may significantly impact additional products (scope change). 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 4.1 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2024
The CVE-2024-21180 vulnerability represents a significant security flaw within Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools, specifically affecting the OpenSearch Dashboards component across versions 8.59, 8.60, and 8.61. This vulnerability operates within the broader context of enterprise application security where PeopleSoft serves as a critical business application platform. The affected component, OpenSearch Dashboards, functions as a visualization and data exploration interface that provides users with access to various data sets within the PeopleSoft ecosystem. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage relatively straightforward attack vectors to compromise the system, making it particularly concerning for organizations relying on PeopleSoft for their core business operations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the OpenSearch Dashboards component, allowing low-privileged attackers with network access via HTTP to gain unauthorized read access to sensitive data within the PeopleSoft environment. The CVSS 3.1 scoring system assigns a base score of 4.1, which reflects the confidentiality impact of this vulnerability. The attack vector is classified as network-based (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and requiring low privileges (PR:L), indicating that the vulnerability can be exploited without significant technical expertise. However, the requirement for human interaction (UI:R) suggests that social engineering or user manipulation may be necessary to complete the attack, typically involving users clicking on malicious links or performing specific actions that trigger the vulnerability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools environment, as indicated by the scope change (S:C) aspect of the CVSS vector. This means that successful exploitation can potentially affect additional products within the Oracle ecosystem, creating a cascading security risk that organizations must address comprehensively. The unauthorized read access to a subset of accessible data represents a significant confidentiality breach that could expose sensitive business information, employee data, financial records, or proprietary business intelligence. The vulnerability's scope change component suggests that attackers might be able to access data beyond their immediate target, potentially compromising multiple interconnected systems within the organization's infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest security patches from Oracle, which would address the underlying access control issues within OpenSearch Dashboards. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit unnecessary HTTP access to the PeopleSoft components, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect anomalous access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege, where users should only have access to resources necessary for their specific roles. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access, specifically leveraging weaknesses in application-level access controls to achieve unauthorized data access. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments to identify all instances of affected PeopleSoft versions and implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts. The human interaction requirement suggests that security awareness training should be enhanced to prevent social engineering attacks that could exploit this vulnerability, as user behavior often represents the weakest link in security implementations.