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Business IntelligenceApplication · Oracle

CVE-2021-2456

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-07-21
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
High EPSS 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 Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Analytics Web General). The supported version that is affected is 12.2.1.4.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. 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 · high confidence

Unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 12.2.1.4.0 Analytics Web General component. An attacker can exploit this via HTTP requests to gain complete system control without any credentials.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) for July 2021 that addresses CVE-2021-2456, or upgrade to a patched version if available. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the Analytics Web component via firewall or web application firewall.

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 IntelligenceApplication
Affected:= 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
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 Business Intelligence installation
    Locate Oracle BI Enterprise Edition installation directories and verify the presence of Analytics Web components (commonly under $ORACLE_HOME/bi/web or similar paths)
    Affected if Oracle BI EE is installed with Analytics Web General component present
  2. Verify installed version
    Check the version of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition using Oracle inventory commands or version files within the installation directory
    Affected if Installed version is exactly 12.2.1.4.0 (no other versions are affected per the advisory)
  3. Confirm Analytics Web component is enabled
    Inspect Oracle BI configuration files (such as instanceconfig.xml or bi-init scripts) to determine if the Analytics Web / analytics servlet is actively enabled
    Affected if Analytics Web General component is enabled and operational
  4. Check network exposure
    Review firewall rules, load balancer configurations, or network ACLs to determine if the Analytics Web HTTP/HTTPS endpoints are reachable from untrusted networks
    Affected if Analytics Web interface is exposed to unauthenticated network access without filtering

Environment is affected if Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition version 12.2.1.4.0 is running with the Analytics Web General component enabled and accessible over the network.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) for July 2021 that addresses CVE-2021-2456, or upgrade to a patched version if available. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the Analytics Web component via firewall or web application firewall.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Oracle Business Intelligence 12.2.1.4.x bundle patch or Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) 5.x

  1. Check Oracle Critical Patch Update advisories for 2021, particularly the October 2021 CPU which addressed this vulnerability
  2. Apply the latest Oracle Business Intelligence 12c (12.2.1.x) bundle patch from Oracle Support
  3. Alternatively, upgrade to Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) which succeeded Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 12c
  4. Verify the fix by confirming the patch level via Oracle Fusion Middleware console or opatch lsinventory
Caveat Oracle Business Intelligence 12c is in extended support; consider migration to Oracle Analytics Server for long-term support

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

Fix this in Business Intelligence Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2021-2456 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
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  • 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