CVE-2026-61119

Executive Summary

This report details CVE-2026-61119, a High-severity vulnerability in the Oracle HRMS (UK) product of Oracle E-Business Suite, specifically within the UK Payroll component. The vulnerability allows a low-privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise the application, leading to unauthorized modification or deletion of critical data and a partial denial of service (DoS). The CVSS 3.1 Base Score is 7.1, reflecting a significant impact on data integrity and availability.

Business Impact: Organizations using Oracle E-Business Suite versions 12.2.3 through 12.2.15, particularly those with UK Payroll modules, are at risk. The likely attacker is an authenticated insider or a malicious actor who has compromised low-privilege credentials. The attack can lead to payroll fraud, data corruption, and disruption of payroll processing, which can have severe financial and operational consequences.

Vulnerability Class & Attack Vector: This is an improper access control vulnerability (CWE-284). The attack vector is network-based, requiring only low-privileged access and no user interaction. The vulnerability is exposed via the HTTP protocol.

Urgency Assessment: Despite a CVSS score of 7.1 (High), the EPSS exploitation probability is 0.0% as of the report date. This suggests that while the vulnerability is severe, there are currently no known active exploits or proof-of-concept code in public circulation. However, the ease of exploitation (low complexity, low privileges) means that once details are more widely understood, exploitation is likely. Immediate patching is recommended.

Key Facts:

• Vendor: Oracle
• Affected Versions: Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.3 to 12.2.15
• Patch Status: None available from the provided data. See vendor advisory.
• CISA KEV: Not listed.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

Qualitative Severity: High

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

Metric Decomposition:

• AV:N (Network): The vulnerability is exploitable remotely over the network via HTTP.
• AC:L (Low): The attack does not require any special conditions beyond network access. No race conditions or complex scenarios are needed.
• PR:L (Low): The attacker must have valid, low-privileged credentials to the Oracle E-Business Suite application.
• UI:N (None): The attack does not require any action from a user other than the attacker.
• S:U (Unchanged): A successful attack does not affect components outside of the vulnerable Oracle HRMS (UK) scope.
• C:N (None): There is no impact on data confidentiality.
• I:H (High): The attacker can gain unauthorized modification or deletion of critical data, leading to a complete loss of integrity.
• A:L (Low): The attacker can cause a partial denial of service, reducing availability but not causing a total outage.

EPSS Interpretation: The EPSS score of 0.0% indicates that the model predicts a negligible probability of exploitation in the wild within the next 30 days. This is typical for a newly published CVE with no public exploit code. This score is likely to increase as more information becomes available.

Historical Comparison: This vulnerability is similar to other access control flaws in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, such as CVE-2024-21287 (Oracle E-Business Suite) and CVE-2023-21912 (Oracle E-Business Suite). These often involve low-privileged users escalating their access to modify sensitive data.

Temporal & Environmental Scores: The temporal score is currently equal to the base score due to the lack of a patch or exploit code. The environmental score can be adjusted based on the criticality of the affected system. For a payroll system, the integrity impact is likely to be considered even more severe, potentially raising the environmental score.

Technical Deep Dive & Attack Mechanics

Root Cause Analysis: The vulnerability is a result of improper access control within the UK Payroll component of Oracle HRMS. The application fails to properly validate whether a low-privileged user has the authorization to perform specific data modification or deletion operations on critical payroll data.

Step-by-Step Attack Mechanics:

1. Authentication: The attacker authenticates to the Oracle E-Business Suite web interface with low-privileged credentials (e.g., a regular employee or HR assistant account).
2. Reconnaissance: The attacker identifies the specific HTTP endpoints and parameters used by the UK Payroll module for data management. This could involve analyzing web traffic or using application documentation.
3. Crafting Malicious Request: The attacker crafts a specially crafted HTTP request (likely POST or GET) to a vulnerable endpoint. This request includes parameters that attempt to modify or delete payroll records, such as employee salary, tax codes, or payment history.
4. Bypassing Authorization Checks: The vulnerable code path does not properly check if the authenticated user has the required role or privilege to perform the requested action. The request is processed, and the data is modified or deleted.
5. Impact: The attacker successfully alters critical payroll data, potentially leading to fraudulent payments or data corruption. The partial DoS could be achieved by deleting key configuration data or triggering an application error that prevents normal payroll processing.

Attack Surface:

• Interface: HTTP/HTTPS web interface of Oracle E-Business Suite.
• Ports: Typically 8000 (HTTP) or 4443 (HTTPS) for the application.
• Protocol: HTTP.

Pre-conditions:

• Network access to the Oracle E-Business Suite server.
• Valid low-privileged user credentials.
• The UK Payroll module must be installed and active.

Attack Variants: The attacker could target different endpoints within the UK Payroll module, such as those for creating new employees, updating salary bands, or deleting historical payroll runs.

Why Standard Defenses May Fail:

• Web Application Firewalls (WAFs): Standard WAF rules may not detect this attack because the request appears to be a legitimate, authenticated operation. The malicious aspect is the unauthorized privilege, not a malicious payload like SQL injection.
• Network Segmentation: If the application is accessible from the internal network, an attacker who has already gained a foothold can easily exploit this.
• Logging: Without specific monitoring for unauthorized data modification attempts, the attack may go unnoticed.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code Analysis

Since no patch details are available, this section provides a hypothetical analysis based on the vulnerability type.

Vulnerable Code (Pseudocode):

function updateEmployeeSalary(employeeId, newSalary, userSession) {
    // Assume user is authenticated
    if (isAuthenticated(userSession)) {
        // VULNERABLE: No check if user has 'PAYROLL_ADMIN' role
        database.execute("UPDATE payroll SET salary = ? WHERE employee_id = ?", newSalary, employeeId);
        return "Success";
    } else {
        return "Unauthorized";
    }
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

function updateEmployeeSalary(employeeId, newSalary, userSession) {
    if (isAuthenticated(userSession)) {
        // PATCHED: Added authorization check
        if (hasRole(userSession, 'PAYROLL_ADMIN')) {
            database.execute("UPDATE payroll SET salary = ? WHERE employee_id = ?", newSalary, employeeId);
            return "Success";
        } else {
            return "Forbidden";
        }
    } else {
        return "Unauthorized";
    }
}

What the Patch Changes: The patch would add a granular authorization check before executing any sensitive data operation. It would verify that the authenticated user possesses a specific role (e.g., PAYROLL_ADMIN) that is explicitly required for the action.

Regression Considerations: Applying the patch could break legitimate workflows if the role-based permissions are not correctly configured for all users who need access. Organizations must ensure that all users who require payroll administration capabilities are assigned the correct roles.

Timeline & Disclosure History

• CVE Publication Date: 2026-07-21T21:38:16.644Z
• Estimated Discovery Timeline: Unknown. The vulnerability was likely discovered by a security researcher or Oracle's internal team.
• Disclosure Process: The CVE was published by the CVE Program. The specific CNA (CVE Numbering Authority) is likely Oracle.
• Known Exploitation in the Wild: No known active exploitation as of 2026-07-22.
• CISA KEV Addition Date: Not applicable.

Threat Intelligence Context

Threat Actor Profile: This vulnerability is most likely to be exploited by:

• Insider Threats: A disgruntled employee with low-level access could manipulate payroll data for personal gain or to cause disruption.
• Ransomware Operators: While not a direct ransomware vector, an attacker could use this to corrupt payroll data, adding pressure on a victim to pay a ransom.
• Nation-State Actors: APT groups targeting specific organizations for economic disruption or intelligence gathering could use this to manipulate financial records.

Attack Campaign Context: No specific campaigns are known to be associated with this CVE.

Geographic Targeting: Organizations with UK payroll operations are the primary targets.

Industry Verticals Most at Risk:

• Finance and Insurance
• Professional Services
• Healthcare
• Any large enterprise using Oracle E-Business Suite for UK payroll.

Connection to Similar Vulnerabilities: This is part of a long history of access control vulnerabilities in Oracle E-Business Suite, which is a complex application with many modules and permission levels.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team Section

Lab Setup:

1. Environment: A virtual machine running Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.3 (or any version in the affected range). This can be set up using Oracle's pre-built virtual machine images or a manual installation.
2. Network: The VM should be on an isolated network segment accessible from the attacker's machine.
3. Credentials: Create a low-privileged user account (e.g., user1 with the HR_USER role) and a high-privileged account (e.g., admin with PAYROLL_ADMIN role) for comparison.

Prerequisites:

• Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.3-12.2.15 installed and running.
• A web browser and a tool like Burp Suite or cURL for crafting HTTP requests.
• Valid low-privileged credentials.

Exploitation Walkthrough:

1. Login: Log in to the Oracle E-Business Suite web interface as the low-privileged user (user1).
2. Identify Endpoint: Use Burp Suite to intercept traffic while navigating the UK Payroll module. Identify a function that modifies employee data, such as updating a salary. The URL might look like: http://[target]:8000/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=PAYROLL_UPDATE_SALARY
3. Craft Request: Using Burp Repeater, craft a POST request to this endpoint. The request body might include parameters like employeeId=123&newSalary=999999.
4. Send Request: Send the request. If the vulnerability is present, the server will respond with a success message, and the salary for employee 123 will be updated to 999999, even though user1 should not have this permission.
5. Verify: Log in as the admin user and check the employee's salary to confirm the change.

Expected Output: The attacker successfully modifies the payroll data without authorization.

Post-Exploitation: The attacker can now:

• Modify salaries for multiple employees.
• Delete employee records.
• Create fake employees for fraudulent payments.
• Cause a partial DoS by corrupting payroll configuration data.

Blue Team Section

Detection:

• Log Entries: Monitor Oracle E-Business Suite audit logs for UPDATE, DELETE, or INSERT operations on payroll-related tables (e.g., PAY_ALL_PAYMENTS_F, PER_ALL_PEOPLE_F) performed by users who do not have the PAYROLL_ADMIN role.
• Network Traffic: Look for HTTP requests to sensitive payroll endpoints from unusual IP addresses or user agents.
• Endpoint Behavioral Indicators: Unexpected changes to payroll data, such as a sudden spike in salary modifications or the creation of new employees without proper approval.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

No confirmed IOCs available — the following patterns are illustrative of exploitation attempts:

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2026_61119_Oracle_HRMS_Exploit {
    meta:
        description = "Detects HTTP requests targeting Oracle HRMS UK Payroll endpoints with unauthorized modification patterns"
        author = "Valters IT Hub"
        date = "2026-07-22"
        reference = "https://www.valtersit.com/cve/cve-2026-61119"
    strings:
        $s1 = "OAFunc=PAYROLL_UPDATE_SALARY" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "OAFunc=PAYROLL_DELETE_EMPLOYEE" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "newSalary=" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of ($s1, $s2) and $s3
}

Sigma Rule (SIEM)

title: CVE-2026-61119 Oracle HRMS Unauthorized Payroll Modification
id: eea5c6b7-6979-4e61-8004-169f672b52ec
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests to Oracle HRMS UK Payroll endpoints that may indicate exploitation of CVE-2026-61119.
author: Valters IT Hub
date: 2026-07-22
references:
    - https://www.valtersit.com/cve/cve-2026-61119
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'OAFunc=PAYROLL_UPDATE_SALARY'
            - 'OAFunc=PAYROLL_DELETE_EMPLOYEE'
            - 'OAFunc=PAYROLL_CREATE_EMPLOYEE'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate payroll administrators performing authorized updates.
level: high

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2026-61119 Oracle HRMS Payroll Exploitation Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/OA_HTML/OA.jsp"; http_uri; content:"OAFunc=PAYROLL_"; http_uri; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Elastic (EQL) Query

network where process.name == "httpd" and url.path == "/OA_HTML/OA.jsp" and url.query contains "OAFunc=PAYROLL_UPDATE_SALARY"

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=access_combined
| search method=POST uri_path="/OA_HTML/OA.jsp" uri_query=*OAFunc=PAYROLL_*
| table _time, clientip, method, uri_query, user
| stats count by clientip, user

Wazuh Rule

<group name="oracle_ebs,">
  <rule id="100001" level="12">
    <decoded_as>web</decoded_as>
    <field name="url">\.*OAFunc=PAYROLL_UPDATE_SALARY\.*</field>
    <description>Oracle EBS: Possible exploitation of CVE-2026-61119 - Payroll update attempt.</description>
    <options>no_full_log</options>
    <group>oracle_ebs,pci_dss_6.5,</group>
  </rule>
</group>

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions (0-24 hours)

• Apply Patch: Check Oracle's security advisory for the specific patch for CVE-2026-61119. Apply the patch to all affected Oracle E-Business Suite instances.
• Compensating Controls: If a patch is not immediately available, implement the following:
  • Network Segmentation: Restrict network access to the Oracle E-Business Suite web interface to only authorized users and systems.
  • Access Control Review: Immediately review and restrict the privileges of all low-privileged users. Temporarily disable accounts that do not require access to the UK Payroll module.
  • WAF Rules: Create custom WAF rules to block requests to sensitive payroll endpoints (e.g., OAFunc=PAYROLL_UPDATE_SALARY) from users who are not in a specific IP range or user group.

Short-term (1-7 days)

• Configuration Hardening: Implement the principle of least privilege. Ensure that only users with the explicit PAYROLL_ADMIN role can modify payroll data.
• Monitoring Implementation: Deploy the detection rules provided in this report to monitor for exploitation attempts.
• Vulnerability Scanning: Run a vulnerability scanner against the Oracle E-Business Suite instance to confirm the patch has been applied. Example command: nmap -sV --script http-vuln-cve2026-61119 <target> (if a script exists).

Long-term

• Architecture Changes: Consider implementing a more robust role-based access control (RBAC) system with granular permissions for all modules.
• Security Control Improvements: Implement a database activity monitoring (DAM) solution to detect and alert on unauthorized data modifications.
• Developer Training: Educate developers on secure coding practices, particularly around authorization checks.

Validation

• Check Version: Log in to Oracle E-Business Suite and navigate to About Oracle E-Business Suite to verify the version is no longer in the affected range (12.2.3-12.2.15).
• Test Exploit: Attempt the exploitation steps outlined in the Red Team section. If the patch is applied, the low-privileged user should receive a "Forbidden" or "Unauthorized" error.

References & Resources

• NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-61119
• CVE.org: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-61119
• Vendor advisory: See vendor security page
• OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-61119 (if applicable)
• Related CWE: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/284.html
• MITRE ATT&CK: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1190/

Report generated by Valters IT Hub Neural Engine v25 | 2026-07-22 | https://www.valtersit.com/cve/cve-2026-61119