CVE-2026-60605
Summary
by MITRE • 07/22/2026
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Student Records product of Oracle PeopleSoft (component: Higher Ed Statistics Agency - UK HESA). The supported version that is affected is 9.2.38. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Student Records. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Student Records accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.5 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/22/2026
This vulnerability exists within Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise CS Student Records version 9.2.38, specifically affecting the Higher Ed Statistics Agency - UK HESA component. The flaw represents a critical security weakness that allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit network-based HTTP access points without requiring any prior authentication credentials or privileged access. The vulnerability's ease of exploitation means that threat actors can potentially compromise sensitive student records and educational data with minimal technical effort, making it particularly dangerous for institutions handling confidential academic information.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication mechanisms within the web application layer, allowing attackers to directly access protected resources through standard HTTP protocols. This weakness creates a pathway for unauthorized individuals to bypass normal security controls that should protect sensitive student data including personal identifying information, academic records, grades, and other confidential educational details. The CVSS 3.1 scoring of 7.5 indicates a high severity level with significant confidentiality impact, reflecting the potential for extensive data breaches that could expose all accessible records within the system.
From an operational perspective, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could result in comprehensive unauthorized access to critical student data repositories, potentially affecting thousands of academic records simultaneously. Educational institutions relying on PeopleSoft for student record management face substantial risks including privacy violations, regulatory compliance failures, and potential legal consequences from data breaches. The impact extends beyond immediate data exposure to include reputational damage, regulatory penalties under privacy laws such as GDPR or FERPA, and potential criminal liability for failing to protect sensitive educational information.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, firewall restrictions to limit HTTP access, and deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and block malicious requests targeting the vulnerable component. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in related systems. Additionally, patch management protocols must be established to ensure timely updates to PeopleSoft installations, with particular attention to the specific version 9.2.38 that is affected by this vulnerability. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual access patterns and unauthorized data queries that could indicate exploitation attempts, aligning with cybersecurity frameworks such as CWE-287 for authentication weaknesses and ATT&CK techniques targeting web application vulnerabilities.
The vulnerability's classification under CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N demonstrates that network-based attacks require no special privileges or user interaction, making the attack surface particularly broad. This aligns with common exploitation patterns documented in cybersecurity threat intelligence where unauthenticated access to enterprise applications represents one of the most prevalent attack vectors. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions and regular access logging to detect potential unauthorized data access attempts, while ensuring that all system administrators maintain proper access controls and least privilege principles to minimize potential damage from compromised accounts.
The broader implications for educational institutions include compliance requirements under various privacy regulations and the need for comprehensive incident response procedures. Security teams should establish clear protocols for detecting, containing, and reporting such vulnerabilities while maintaining detailed audit trails of system access and modifications. Regular staff training on security awareness and threat identification remains crucial, particularly given the automated nature of many exploitation techniques that can target known vulnerabilities without requiring sophisticated technical skills from attackers.