CVE-2026-61254: Oracle HRMS Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-61254 Overview

CVE-2026-61254 affects the Oracle HRMS (Republic of Korea) product within Oracle E-Business Suite, specifically the Korean Payroll component. The flaw impacts supported versions 12.2.3 through 12.2.15. An unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP can exploit the vulnerability, but successful attacks require interaction from a user other than the attacker. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized read access to a subset of data and unauthorized update, insert, or delete access to some accessible data. The associated weakness is [CWE-601], URL redirection to untrusted site (open redirect).

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation permits limited unauthorized data modification and disclosure within Oracle HRMS (Republic of Korea) accessible data, contingent on user interaction.

Affected Products

Oracle E-Business Suite - Oracle HRMS (Republic of Korea), Korean Payroll component
Versions 12.2.3 through 12.2.15
Deployments exposing HRMS HTTP endpoints to end-user browsers

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-21 - CVE-2026-61254 published to NVD
2026-07-22 - Last updated in NVD database
Vendor advisory published as part of the Oracle Security Alert July 2026

Technical Details for CVE-2026-61254

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the Korean Payroll component of the Oracle HRMS (Republic of Korea) module in Oracle E-Business Suite. The weakness is classified as [CWE-601], indicating an open redirect condition where the application accepts attacker-controlled input and uses it to construct a redirection target. Because the attack vector is network-based over HTTP and requires no privileges, an attacker can craft a malicious link that abuses the trusted Oracle E-Business Suite host. The user-interaction requirement means the victim must click the crafted link or follow a message that triggers navigation through the vulnerable endpoint.

Once interacted with, the flaw enables limited unauthorized read access along with unauthorized update, insert, or delete access to a subset of HRMS data. Availability is not affected, and the scope remains unchanged. The EPSS probability of 0.172% reflects a low current likelihood of observed exploitation, though open-redirect flaws are commonly chained with phishing.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient validation of a redirection or navigation parameter processed by the Korean Payroll component. The application trusts a URL or resource identifier supplied through an HTTP request without verifying that the destination points to an approved host or resource. This mishandling of untrusted input allows an attacker to steer authenticated users toward attacker-controlled destinations or to trigger state-changing actions on the user's behalf.

Attack Vector

An attacker crafts a URL that targets the vulnerable Korean Payroll endpoint and embeds an attacker-controlled destination or payload. The attacker delivers the URL through phishing, chat, or another channel. When a user other than the attacker follows the link, the browser follows the redirect or executes the state-changing request under the user's authenticated session, producing the described read and write effects on HRMS data. No verified exploit code, public proof of concept, or CISA KEV listing exists for CVE-2026-61254 at the time of publication. Refer to the Oracle Security Alert July 2026 for vendor technical detail.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-61254

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to Oracle E-Business Suite Korean Payroll endpoints containing external URLs or unexpected redirect parameters
Referer headers or click-through logs showing users arriving at HRMS from unfamiliar external domains, then being sent off-host
Unexpected create, update, or delete operations in HRMS Korean Payroll tables correlated with a single interactive user session

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server and reverse proxy logs for anomalous query parameters carrying full URLs, encoded URLs, or protocol-relative strings targeting Korean Payroll paths
Correlate authenticated user session activity with outbound redirect responses (HTTP 30x) returned by the HRMS application
Alert on HRMS data-change events that occur within seconds of a redirect response to the same session

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable and centralize Oracle E-Business Suite access logs, database auditing on HRMS Korean Payroll tables, and email gateway URL telemetry
Track first-seen external domains appearing as values in HRMS HTTP parameters and flag them for review
Review Oracle Critical Patch Update advisories on each release cycle and confirm patch state across all HRMS instances

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-61254

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the fixes documented in the Oracle Security Alert July 2026 to all Oracle E-Business Suite instances running versions 12.2.3 through 12.2.15
Inventory internet-exposed HRMS endpoints and restrict access to trusted networks or VPN users where business requirements allow
Brief HRMS users on phishing risks that leverage trusted Oracle E-Business Suite URLs

Patch Information

Oracle addressed CVE-2026-61254 in the July 2026 Critical Patch Update. Administrators should download and apply the applicable Korean Payroll patch for their exact Oracle E-Business Suite release from the Oracle Security Alert July 2026. Validate patch application in a non-production environment before rollout, then confirm version reporting on production hosts.

Workarounds

Deploy a web application firewall rule that blocks or sanitizes HTTP parameters containing external URLs, // sequences, or encoded schemes on Korean Payroll endpoints
Enforce URL allow-listing at the reverse proxy for any redirection parameter observed in HRMS traffic
Require multi-factor authentication for HRMS access to raise the cost of session-based abuse until patching completes

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity-style) to block external URL values on HRMS redirect params
SecRule ARGS_NAMES "@rx (?i)(redirect|url|next|return|dest)" \
    "chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:2026061254,\
     msg:'CVE-2026-61254 possible open redirect on Oracle HRMS Korean Payroll'"
  SecRule ARGS "@rx ^(?i)(https?:)?//(?!hrms\.internal\.example\.com/)" "t:none,t:urlDecodeUni"