• Overall, 24 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is a below average number but well within the range of previous CPUs (Oct-09=38, Jul-09=30, Apr-09=43, Jan-09=41, Oct-08=36, Jul-08=45, Apr-08=41, Jan-08=26, Oct-07=51, Jul-07=45, Apr-07=36, Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• The product and vulnerability mix appears to be similar to previous CPUs.  All CPU supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.  The list of supported versions is getting very short and should be carefully reviewed to determine if version upgrades are required prior to applying the CPU security patches -
• Database = 9.2.0.8, 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4, and 11.1.0.7 for major platforms
  
• Application Server = 9.0.4.3, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3
• E-Business Suite = 11.5.10.x, 12.0.x, and 12.1.x
  
• The highlight of this CPU are 2 remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities in the Oracle Database.  It is rare to have a single remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerability in the database.  Most likely these 2 vulnerabilities are in the Listener, APEX Application Builder, and/or Secure Backup.  If the remotely exploitable vulnerabilities are in the Listener component, then this could be a significant and high priority CPU.
• There are no major version support changes in for this CPU.
  

• There are 10 database vulnerabilities and two are remotely exploitable without authentication.
  
• Since at least one database vulnerability has a CVSS 2.0 metric of 10.0, this is a strong indication there a buffer overflow in the Listener component that is remotely exploitable without authentication.  Most likely, the CVSS metric for Windows will be 10.0 and will be 7.5 for Unix/Linux (even though you will be able to fully compromise the database).

• There are three new Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities, all of which are remotely exploitable without authentication.  The affected components are Access Manager Identify Server and Oracle Containers for J2EE.  With maximum CVSS 2.0 metric of 5.0, these could be cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities based on the scores and components.
  

• There are 3 new Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and R12 vulnerabilities, all of which are remotely exploitable without authentication.
• The vulnerabilities are in the CRM Technical Foundation (mobile), AOL, and HRMS.  Of most interest will be if the AOL vulnerability is in an externally accessible web page.
  

• The criticality of this quarter's CPU is in-line with previous CPUs. 
  
• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.

• Overall, 33 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is an average number well within the range of previous CPUs (Apr-09=43, Jan-09=41, Oct-08=36, Jul-08=45, Apr-08=41, Jan-08=26, Oct-07=51, Jul-07=45, Apr-07=36, Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• The product and vulnerability mix appears to be similar to previous CPUs.  All CPU supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.  The list of supported versions is getting very short and should be carefully reviewed to determine if version upgrades are required prior to applying the CPU security patches -
• Database = 9.2.0.8, 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4, 11.1.0.6, and 11.1.0.7 for major platforms
  
• Application Server = 9.0.4.3, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3
• E-Business Suite = 11.5.10.x, 12.0.x, and 12.1.x
  
• The highlight of this CPU are 3 remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities in the Oracle Database.  It is rare to have a single remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerability in the database and having three such vulnerabilities could make this a significant and high priority CPU.  Most likely these 3 vulnerabilities are in the Listener, Network Authentication, and Network Foundation components.
  
• There are no major version support changes in for this CPU.
  

• There are 10 database vulnerabilities and three are remotely exploitable without authentication.  As previously noted, the three remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities could make this one of the most critical quarterly releases in the past three years.
• The three remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities are most likely in the Listener, Network Authentication, and Network Foundation components.  One of these vulnerabilities has a CVSS 2.0 metric of 9.0, thus making this a highly critical patch.
• Similar to the January 2009 CPU, there are two critical vulnerabilities (one remotely exploitable without authentication and a CVSS 2.0 metric of 10).

• There are two new Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities, both of which are remotely exploitable without authentication.  In previous CPUs, the majority of Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities have tended to be remotely exploitable without authentication.  The vulnerabilities are in the Core HTTP Server (Apache) and the Oracle Security Developer Tools.  The highest CVSS 2.0 metric is a 5.0 suggesting that these are only of limited risk.  For the Oracle HTTP Server which is based on Apache, Oracle provides security fixes for previously released Apache vulnerabilities several month later.  Most likely this Core HTTP Server vulnerability is a fix for a previously released Apache vulnerability.
  

• There are 8 new Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and R12 vulnerabilities and five are remotely exploitable without authentication.
• Of most interest are the iSupplier Portal and iStore vulnerabilities, which may require immediate patching for Internet-facing implementations.
• This is the first CPU with a patch for 12.1.

• The criticality of this quarter's CPU may be higher for the Oracle Database than previous CPUs. 
  
• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.

Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG)

Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG)

• Overall, 41 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is an average number well within the range of previous CPUs (Oct-08=36, Jul-08=45, Apr-08=41, Jan-08=26, Oct-07=51, Jul-07=45, Apr-07=36, Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• The product and vulnerability mix appears to be similar to previous CPUs.  All CPU supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.  The list of supported versions is getting very short and should be carefully reviewed to determine if version upgrades are required prior to applying the CPU security patches -
• Database = 9.2.0.8, 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4, and 11.1.0.6 for major platforms
  
• Application Server = 9.0.4.3, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3
• E-Business Suite = 11.5.10.x, and 12.0.x
• The highlight of this CPU are 9 remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities in Oracle Secure Backup.  All customers running Oracle Secure Backup will need to carefully evaluate the impact of these vulnerabilities.
• There are no major version support changes in for this CPU.  It is important to note that this will be the last CPU for database versions 10.2.0.2 and 10.2.0.3.
  

• There are 10 database vulnerabilities and none are remotely exploitable without authentication, which is consistent with previous CPUs.  Usually, the vast majority of database vulnerabilities require authentication.  However, it is highly likely a portion of these vulnerabilities can be exploited using only PUBLIC privileges accessible by all database accounts.
  
• The vulnerability of most interest is in the "Job Queue" component as there have been no previous vulnerabilities in this component.
  
• At least one of the database security vulnerabilities has a CVSS 2.0 metric of 5.5, which for database vulnerabilities should be considered medium to high risk for a database vulnerability.  This typically means anyone with a valid database session is able to compromise the entire database, but is unable to achieve root operating system access.
• There are 2 vulnerabilities in SQL*Plus Windows GUI (sqlplusw) client-side installation.  Previously, these type of client-side have been buffer overflows in passed parameters or environmental variables.
  

• There are 4 new Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities, 2 of which are remotely exploitable without authentication.  In previous CPUs, the majority of Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities have tended to be remotely exploitable without authentication.  The vulnerabilities are in OC4J, Oracle BPEL Process Manager, Oracle JDeveloper, and Oracle Portal.
  

• There are 4 new Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and R12 vulnerabilities and none are remotely exploitable without authentication.  It may be possible to exploit the one Oracle Applications Framework using any application account or generic accounts through modules such as iStore or iRecruitment.
  

• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.

• Overall, 45 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is an average number well within the range of previous CPUs (Apr-08=41, Jan-08=26, Oct-07=51, Jul-07=45, Apr-07=36, Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• This is the first CPU that includes fixes for BEA WebLogic, Hyperion BI, and TimesTen Database.
  
• The product and vulnerability mix appears to be similar to previous CPUs.  All CPU supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.  The list of supported versions is getting very short and should be carefully reviewed to determine if version upgrades are required prior to applying the CPU security patches -
• Database = 9.2.0.8, 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4, and 11.1.0.6 for major platforms
  
• Application Server = 9.0.4.3, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3
• E-Business Suite = 11.5.10.x, and 12.0.x
• The major CPU version support changes for July 2008 are -
  
• Database version 10.2.0.4 is included in the list of affected versions
  
• Oracle E-Business Suite 11i version 11.5.9 is no longer supported for CPUs
  

• There are 11 database vulnerabilities and none are remotely exploitable without authentication, which is consistent with previous CPUs.  Usually, the vast majority of database vulnerabilities require authentication.  However, it is highly likely a portion of these vulnerabilities can be exploited using only PUBLIC privileges accessible by all database accounts.
  
• The vulnerabilities of most interest are in the Core RDBMS and Authentication components, but the Database Scheduler vulnerability could be interesting.
  
• At least one of the database security vulnerabilities has a CVSS 2.0 metric of 6.5, which for database vulnerabilities should be considered high risk.  This typically means anyone with a valid database session is able to compromise the entire database, but is unable to achieve root operating system access.
• The 2 Oracle 11g vulnerabilities discovered by Integrigy are low risk and are not be directly exploitable, but may allow authentication security mis-configurations to go undetected.

• There are 9 new Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities, all of which are remotely exploitable without authentication.  In previous CPUs, the majority of Oracle Application Server vulnerabilities have tended to be remotely exploitable without authentication.  The vulnerabilities are in Hyperion BI Plus, Oracle HTTP Server, Oracle Internet Directory, and Oracle Portal.
  
• The Oracle HTTP Server vulnerabilities may be related to recent Apache HTTP Server and OpenSSL fixes.
• The Oracle Portal vulnerability may be related to CVE-2008-2138, which is an access restriction bypass issue in the WebDav component of Oracle Portal.

• There are 6 new Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and R12 vulnerabilities and none are remotely exploitable without authentication.  However, since iStore allows for customer self-registration, most likely the iStore vulnerability (or vulnerabilities) can be readily exploited by an unprivileged user.
• For the Oracle E-Business Suite 11i, only 11.5.10.x is now supported for CPUs and requires ATG_PF.H RUP 5 or RUP 6 be installed.
• The 2 Oracle E-Business Suite 11i/R12 vulnerabilities discovered by Integrigy are low risk and are in the Oracle Application Object Library (AOL/FND).

• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.

Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG)

Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG)

• Overall, 41 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is an average number well within the range of previous CPUs (Jan-08=26, Oct-07=51, Jul-07=45, Apr-07=36, Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• This is the first CPU that includes fixes for Siebel.
• The product and vulnerability mix appears to be similar to previous CPUs.  All CPU supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, Oracle Collaboration Suite, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.  The list of supported versions is getting very short and should be carefully reviewed to determine if version upgrades are required prior to applying the CPU security patches -
• Database = 9.2.0.8, 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.3, and 11.1.0.6 for major platforms
  
• Application Server = 9.0.4.3, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3
• E-Business Suite = 11.5.9, 11.5.10.x, and 12.0.x
• The major CPU version support changes for April 2008 are -
  
• Database version 10.2.0.2 is only supported for Solaris x86 and VMS
• Oracle E-Business Suite 11i will require ATG RUP5 or RUP6
• Oracle instituted a new policy with the July 2007 CPU in that platforms with few downloads of CPU patches will not have patches proactively created -- the CPU patches will only be available upon request.  According to the January 2008 CPU note (Metalink Note ID 466757.1), patches for database version 10.1.0.5 on several platforms will be available only upon request for the April 2008 CPU.  For the Oracle Application Server, many platforms have "On Request" patches across all versions, especially 9.0.4.3.  The database note for the January 2008 CPU will have a section titled "Planned Patches for Next CPU Release" that should be carefully reviewed to determine if your platform/version will be an "On Request" patch in the next release.
  
  

• There are 17 database vulnerabilities and two are remotely exploitable without authentication.  Since APEX, Net Services, Authentication, and UltraSearch are included as affected components, it will be very interesting to see where the remotely exploitable vulnerabilities lie.
  
• At least one of the database security vulnerabilities has a CVSS 2.0 metric of 6.6, which for database vulnerabilities should be considered high risk.  This typically means anyone with a valid database session is able to compromise the entire database, but is unable to achieve root operating system access.
• According to the January 2008 CPU notes, there is very limited platform support for 10.2.0.2.  Only the following platforms are supported for 10.2.0.2 by the April 2008 CPU: Solaris X86 and VMS.

• There are 3 new Oracle Applications vulnerabilities, all of which are remotely exploitable without authentication.  Two impact the Oracle Application server components Oracle Dynamic Monitoring Service and Oracle Portal.  The third vulnerability is in Oracle Jinitiator, which is a client installed product.
  

• 7 of the 11 vulnerabilities in the Oracle E-Business Suite are remotely exploitable without authentication.  Most of the vulnerabilities are in core components like OA Framework and AOL, so all implementations should consider most of these patches as important.
  

• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.

Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG)

Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG)

Pre and Post Conference OAUG Workshops

• Sunday, April 13 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Thursday, April 17 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Starting with Database patch set 10.2.0.3, CPUs have security fixes and any pre-requisite non-security fixes, but no longer contain non-security fixes introduced to resolve patch conflicts.  Even though Oracle intends to include mainly security fixes in CPUs, we may decide to include high-priority non-security fixes. We will always identify them in the CPU documentation.

• Overall, 51 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is lower than average but in the range of previous CPUs (Jul-07=45, Apr-07=36, Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• The product and vulnerability mix is similar to previous CPUs.  All CPU supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.  There are no new vulnerabilities in Oracle Collaboration Suite.  The list of supported versions is getting very short and should be carefully reviewed to determine if version upgrades are required prior to applying the CPU security patches -
• Database = 9.2.0.8, 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.2, and 10.2.0.3
• Application Server = 9.0.4.3, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3
• E-Business Suite = 11.5.8, 11.5.9, 11.5.10.x, and 12.0.x
• Oracle instituted a new policy with the July 2007 CPU in that platforms with few downloads of CPU patches will not have patches proactively developed. The CPU patches will only be available upon request.  Fortunately according to the July 2007 CPU note (Metalink Note ID 432873.1), all supported platform/version combinations will have patches proactively released for the October 2007 CPU.  The database note for the October 2007 CPU will have a section titled "Planned Patches for Next CPU Release" that should be carefully reviewed to determine if your platform/version will be an "On Request" patch in the next release.
• This is the first CPU using version 2.0 of the CVSS metric.  CVSS 2.0 scores seem to be more consistent, but still grossly understate the severity of many database and application vulnerabilities.  Even a vulnerability may allow a complete compromise of the database, the score is less than 7.
  
  

• There are 5 remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities, which are not typical of previous database vulnerabilities.  Most previous database vulnerabilities require database authentication to exploit.  Depending on the exact nature of the 5 remotely exploitable without authentication vulnerabilities, this quarter's CPU could prove to be the most critical in the past 2 years.
  
• At least one of the database security vulnerabilities has a CVSS 2.0 metric of 6.5, which for database vulnerabilities should be considered high risk.
• The major version support change for this quarter is that 9.2.0.7 is no longer supported.
  

• 7 of the 11 vulnerabilities are remotely exploitable without authentication.  A number of these vulnerabilities are probably related to recently fixed Apache which is the base of the Oracle HTTP Server.  Organizations with Internet facing Application Server deployments will most likely want to prioritize this quarter's CPU patches as Oracle HTTP Server, Oracle Single Sign-on, and Oracle Portal are all affected.
  
• There are no major changes to the support Oracle Application Server versions for this quarter.

• Only 1 of the 8 vulnerabilities in the Oracle E-Business Suite is remotely exploitable without authentication. 
  
• All supported versions are included (11.5.8 to 11.5.10 CU2 and 12.0.0 to 12.0.3).  This will be the last CPU for 11.5.8.
  

• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.

• Overall, 37 security vulnerabilities are fixed in this CPU, which is much lower than average but in the range of previous CPUs (Jan-07=51, Oct-06=101, Jul-06=62, Apr-06=34, Jan-06=80).
• The product and vulnerability mix is similar to previous CPUs with the notable addition of Oracle Secure Enterprise Search.  All supported Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server, Oracle Enterprise Manager, and Oracle E-Business Suite versions are included.

• There are two easy to exploit, remotely exploitable, and authentication not required vulnerabilities, which are not typical of previous database vulnerabilities.  Most previous database vulnerabilities require database authentication to exploit.
• Two of the vulnerabilities impact database client installations, which may require a significant patching effort.
• At least two of the database security vulnerabilities have a CVSS metric of 7.0, which for database vulnerabilities is severe (7.0 is really the practical maximum for a database vulnerability).
• The major version support change is that it appears 10.2.0.1 will not be supported for the major platforms (Sun Solaris SPARC, HP/UX, IBM AIX, Linux, Windows x86).

• The security vulnerabilities exist in COREid Access, Discoverer, Portal, Wireless, Workflow, and Secure Enterprise Search.  None of the issues appear to affect the Oracle HTTP Server (Apache).
• The major version support changes are that Oracle Application Server 9.0.4.1 and 9.0.4.2 are no longer supported.

• There are two easy to exploit, remotely exploitable, and authentication not required vulnerabilities.  These security bugs most likely exist in iStore, iSupport, and/or iProcurement, which will require immediate patching.
• All supported versions are included (11.5.7 to 11.5.10 CU2 and 12.0.0).
• Error Correction Support (ECS) for 11.0.3 ended February 28, 2007.  There are no CPU patches available for 11.0.3 after the January 2007 CPU, even though many of the security vulnerabilities most likely exist in this version.

• As with all previous CPUs, this quarter's security patches should be deemed critical and you should adhere to the established procedures and timing used for previous CPUs.
  
• The database client patches will need to be carefully evaluated to determine the impact and potential patching effort.
• Customers running iStore, iSupport, and/or iProcurement should considering applying these patches ASAP.

"Oracle’s database implementations offer a greater feature set and a broader range of database products than many of the other database vendors. The more features an application has, the more code that is available in which to find vulnerabilities, and the more code that must be audited for vulnerabilities. This can equate to a higher proportion of vulnerabilities, depending on the nature and complexity of the features."

• The 9.2.0.8 database patch is really the October 2006 CPU patch, which was released late on December 29, 2006.  I am assuming Oracle just rolled-up any January 2007 fixes in the October 2006 patch, although it could be a mistake in the advisory.
  
• For 10.2.0.3, the installation note says the patch for 10.2.0.3 is "not applicable", but the advisory says the assessment of vulnerabilities in 10.2.0.3 is not complete and patches are forthcoming.  When performing your risk and impact assessment, be sure to include 10.2.0.3 as needing to be patched.
  
• Again this quarter, a number of CPU patches are delayed including the following -

1. Database patches 9.2.0.5 (Unix/Linux), 9.2.0.6, 10.1.0.3 (Unix/Linux), and 10.2.0.3.  With the October 2006 CPU, some of these short delays did become almost 75 days.
2. Oracle Application Server 9.0.4.1 (Unix/Linux)
   
3. Oracle Identity Management 10.1.4
4. Oracle Enterprise Manager 10.2.0.1

If you haven't noticed due to the holidays, Oracle has finally released the October 2006 Critical Patch Update (CPU) for 9.2.0.8 on Unix/Linux and Windows.  These patches were released 75 days after the CPU and at least 45 days after the initial projected date.

The 9.2.0.8 Database patch should be applied for all Oracle E-Business Suite databases running 9.2.0.8, even though the patch is not listed in the CPU documentation for the E-Business Suite.

• Checks all the entries in a tnsnames.ora file for four security configuration issues in the database listener
  

• Generate TNS entries and JDBC connect strings (6 different ways) for enumerated SIDs

• Fully compatible with Oracle 10g (10.1 and 10.2)
• New Oracle Applications 11i check for database and FNDFS listeners
• New enumeration of all instances for a listener
• Saves history of servers and ports for easy access