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Bi PublisherApplication · Oracle

CVE-2023-21846

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-18
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click Patch available

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: Security). Supported versions that are affected are 5.9.0.0.0, 6.4.0.0.0 and 12.2.1.4.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle BI Publisher. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle BI Publisher. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 8.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-284

The application fails to correctly restrict what a user can do or reach, so functions or resources are available to people who should not have them. Attackers simply probe for the paths where the check is missing or wrong. The fix is to enforce access-control decisions consistently on every request, evaluated against the acting user rather than assumed from context.

General guidance for the improper access control class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Bi PublisherApplication
Affected:= 5.9.0.0.0= 6.4.0.0.0= 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
High
Availability
High

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

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.oracle.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Oracle BI Publisher version with January 2023 CPU applied (5.9.0.0.1+, 6.4.0.0.1+, or 12.2.1.4.x with CPU Jan 2023)

  1. Obtain the January 2023 Critical Patch Update from Oracle: https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2023.html
  2. Identify the specific Oracle BI Publisher patch for your version (5.9.0.0.0, 6.4.0.0.0, or 12.2.1.4.0) from the January 2023 CPU
  3. Download and apply the relevant security patch from My Oracle Support (MOS) using the patch ID listed in the CPU advisory
  4. Alternatively, upgrade to a later Oracle BI Publisher version that bundles the January 2023 security fixes
  5. After patching, verify the BI Publisher application is functioning correctly and the patch is applied via Oracle Opatch or the Administration console
  6. Test that low-privileged users can no longer perform unauthorized actions that could lead to system compromise
Caveat Oracle CPU patches are cumulative and generally safe; however, always test in non-production first as patches may affect custom integrations or configurations

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

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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-2023-21846 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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