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Business Intelligence PublisherApplication · Oracle

CVE-2021-2013

HIGH · 7.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 BI Publisher product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: BI Publisher Security). Supported versions that are affected are 5.5.0.0.0, 11.1.1.9.0, 12.2.1.3.0 and 12.2.1.4.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle BI Publisher. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle BI Publisher accessible data as well as unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle BI Publisher accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle BI Publisher. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.6 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L).

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 · high confidence

Oracle BI Publisher contains a vulnerability in its security component that allows low-privileged attackers with network access to compromise the system via HTTP. Successful exploitation grants unauthorized access to critical data, partial data modification capabilities, and limited denial of service potential.

MitigationApply the Oracle Critical Patch Update for CVE-2021-2013 to affected versions (5.5.0.0.0, 11.1.1.9.0, 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0). As immediate workarounds, restrict network access to BI Publisher interfaces and enforce least-privilege account principles.

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
Business Intelligence PublisherApplication
Affected:= 5.5.0.0.0= 11.1.1.9.0= 12.2.1.3.0= 12.2.1.4.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

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 BI Publisher version
    Locate the BI Publisher installation directory and check the version manifest or about page. Common paths include $ORACLE_HOME/bipublisher/about.xml or the BI Publisher web interface /xmlpserver/ faces/main?xaf=1
    Affected if The installed version matches exactly 5.5.0.0.0, 11.1.1.9.0, 12.2.1.3.0, or 12.2.1.4.0
  2. Verify network accessibility of BI Publisher HTTP interface
    Confirm the BI Publisher web application (typically on ports 9704, 8080, or 443) is reachable over the network from untrusted segments. Check firewall rules, load balancer configurations, or test with curl/nmap from an external host.
    Affected if The HTTP interface is exposed to network segments accessible by low-privileged users or untrusted networks
  3. Confirm active user accounts with low privileges
    Review BI Publisher user role assignments through the Administration > Security console or by querying the underlying user repository. Identify accounts assigned roles below Administrator level.
    Affected if Low-privileged user accounts exist in the system who could potentially authenticate to the exposed HTTP interface

You are affected if your installed Oracle BI Publisher version is exactly 5.5.0.0.0, 11.1.1.9.0, 12.2.1.3.0, or 12.2.1.4.0 AND the HTTP interface is network-accessible to low-privileged attackers.

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 the Oracle Critical Patch Update for CVE-2021-2013 to affected versions (5.5.0.0.0, 11.1.1.9.0, 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0). As immediate workarounds, restrict network access to BI Publisher interfaces and enforce least-privilege account principles.

Fix this in Business Intelligence Publisher Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,800
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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-2021-2013 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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