Universal Work QueueApplication · Oracle

CVE-2020-14855

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-21
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 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.

NVD · unedited
Vulnerability in the Oracle Universal Work Queue product of Oracle E-Business Suite (component: Work Provider Administration). The supported version that is affected is 12.1.3. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Universal Work Queue. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle Universal Work Queue. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 9.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

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.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

An unauthenticated network-based vulnerability in Oracle Universal Work Queue's Work Provider Administration component (version 12.1.3) allows attackers to execute arbitrary code and take over the affected system via HTTP requests. The flaw requires no authentication and can be exploited trivially, granting complete control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) patches for Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.3, specifically the update addressing CVE-2020-14855. Restrict network access to Work Provider Administration interfaces where patching is not immediately feasible.

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

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.

NVD · CPE data
Universal Work QueueApplication
Affected:= 12.1.3

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.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

dbcve checks

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

  1. Identify Oracle Universal Work Queue installation
    Locate and query the Oracle Universal Work Queue installation directory or inventory. On Oracle E-Business Suite environments, use Oracle Application Manager (OAM) or the Oracle Administration tools to list installed components and their version numbers.
    Affected if Oracle Universal Work Queue is installed and the version resolves to exactly 12.1.3
  2. Confirm the Work Provider Administration component is present
    Check the Oracle Universal Work Queue component list for the Work Provider Administration module. In Oracle E-Business Suite, this is typically found in the concurrent manager configuration or the OA Framework diagnostic pages under the Work Provider area.
    Affected if The Work Provider Administration component is listed as installed or enabled in the Oracle Universal Work Queue configuration
  3. Determine if the HTTP listener is exposing the vulnerable endpoint
    Review the Oracle HTTP Server or Oracle WebLogic configuration for the Universal Work Queue application. Identify the context path or endpoint URL associated with the Work Provider Administration functionality (commonly /oa_html/ or /worklist/ paths in Oracle E-Business Suite).
    Affected if An HTTP-accessible endpoint for Work Provider Administration is configured and reachable over the network
  4. Verify network accessibility of the administration interface
    From an external or non-privileged network perspective, attempt to reach the Work Provider Administration URL without providing credentials. Since this vulnerability is exploitable without authentication, confirm whether the interface responds to unauthenticated HTTP requests.
    Affected if The Work Provider Administration interface responds to HTTP requests without requiring authentication

A system is affected if Oracle Universal Work Queue version 12.1.3 is installed with the Work Provider Administration component enabled and accessible via HTTP without authentication.

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

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) patches for Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.3, specifically the update addressing CVE-2020-14855. Restrict network access to Work Provider Administration interfaces where patching is not immediately feasible.

Fix this in Universal Work Queue Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-14855 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-14855 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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