Business Intelligence PlatformApplication · Sap

CVE-2016-6818

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-13

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

100/100

Remediation priority · Urgent

Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

SQL injection vulnerability in SAP Business Intelligence platform before January 2017 allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information, modify data, cause a denial of service (data deletion), or launch administrative operations or possibly OS commands via a crafted SQL query. The vendor response is SAP Security Note 2361633.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

SQL injection vulnerability in SAP Business Intelligence platform allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL queries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, data modification, deletion causing denial of service, administrative operations, and possibly OS command execution. The flaw is exploitable without authentication and has critical CVSS 9.8 rating indicating complete system compromise potential.

MitigationApply SAP Security Note 2361633 to patch the SQL injection vulnerability in SAP Business Intelligence platform. Additionally, review and enforce input validation on all user-supplied data in BI applications and audit database access controls.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

Business Intelligence PlatformApplication

Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Network
Complexity: Low
Privileges: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

Identify SAP Business Intelligence Platform installation

Locate the SAP BI platform installation directory. Common paths include C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\ or /opt/sap/ on Linux. Check for subdirectories like 'sap businessobjects' or 'bi platform' in program files or installation logs.

Affected if SAP Business Intelligence Platform software is present on the system
Determine the installed BI platform version

Check the version by reviewing the SAP BusinessObjects installation files or the中央管理控制台(CMC). Look for a version.info file in the installation directory or use the SAP BI CMC web interface under 'About' section.

Affected if The installed version has not been patched with SAP Security Note 2361633
Verify patch 2361633 has been applied

In the SAP BusinessObjects Central Management Console (CMC), navigate to the 'Servers' or 'Patch Management' section to review applied security notes. Alternatively, check SAP support portal for patch status or review system change logs for the specific patch installation date.

Affected if Patch 2361633 is not listed as applied or installed in the system
Check web interface exposure (OpenDocument)

Identify if the OpenDocument feature or BI launch pad web interface is accessible. These are typically exposed on ports 8080, 8000, or 443. Review the web server configuration files (like server.xml or web.xml) in the SAP BusinessObjects installation directory.

Affected if The OpenDocument or web tier is accessible over the network and the platform is unpatched
Audit database connectivity configuration

Review the database connection configuration files in the SAP BI platform installation, typically in the 'bobje' or 'enterprise' subdirectories. Check for input validation settings in the BI platform connection configuration.

Affected if Database connections are configured and input validation for SQL queries is disabled or not enforced

A user is affected if SAP Business Intelligence Platform is running and the system is missing the security patch from SAP Security Note 2361633.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

dbcve · scoped

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Apply SAP Security Note 2361633 to patch the SQL injection vulnerability in SAP Business Intelligence platform. Additionally, review and enforce input validation on all user-supplied data in BI applications and audit database access controls.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Any SAP Business Intelligence Platform version with SAP Security Note 2361633 applied (releases post-January 2017 include the fix)

Obtain SAP Security Note 2361633 from the SAP Support Portal (launcher.sap.com)
Apply the patch/binary update provided in SAP Security Note 2361633 to all affected SAP Business Intelligence Platform installations
After applying the patch, verify the SQL injection vulnerability is remediated by reviewing the patch contents and confirming application to all relevant BI Platform servers
Restart affected services as required by the patch documentation

Caveat Review SAP Security Note 2361633 for any post-patch configuration requirements or service restart dependencies

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Business Intelligence Platform Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation8.0 h
Implementation16.0 h
Testing12.0 h
Review / QA8.0 h

44.0 hours of engineering $7,720

Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6818 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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References

Primary sources

www.securityfocus.comThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
erpscan.io
nvd.nist.govNVD record

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-6818 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2016-6818?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here

Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data

At a glance

A fix existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 9.8 Critical

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 2.4%

Affects: Business Intelligence Platform

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Fix this in Business Intelligence Platform 44 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $7,720

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2016-6818 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

Check your environment

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References