DHS Issues Oracle Warning

"US-CERT technical cybersecurity alert"

Homeland Security Department officials used the National Cyber Alert System this week to warn users of critical security vulnerabilities discovered in Oracle Corp.'s E-Business Suite 11i and Oracle 11 applications.

The DHS alert warned that unauthorized but knowledgeable persons with Web browser access to unpatched versions of the Oracle software can exploit the vulnerabilities to execute destructive structured query language procedures inside the applications.

Oracle has provided a patch that users can download to close the security holes for the software versions named in the alert. Earlier versions have not been tested for the vulnerability because Oracle is no longer providing patches for the older versions.

Applications making the vulnerability list include Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and 11.5.1 through 11.5.8 and all releases of Oracle 11 applications. Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11.5.9 and later versions are not vulnerable.

According to Integrigy Corp.'s Stephen Kost, a security expert who discovered the vulnerabilities, the unpatched Oracle database applications are open to malicious exploits known technically as SQL injection attacks.

The DHS alert warns that "exploitation may lead to compromise of the database application, data integrity or underlying operating system." No operating system is immune.

Oracle databases and applications are widely used throughout the federal government. The Energy Department's Sandia National Laboratories and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, among others, use the Oracle E-Business Suite for managing their business operations.