CVE-2003-1065 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Unknown vulnerability in patches 108993-14 through 108993-19 and 108994-14 through 108994-19 for Solaris 8 may allow local users to cause a denial of service (automountd crash).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/26/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2003-1065 represents a critical denial of service weakness affecting Solaris 8 systems running specific patch versions. This issue manifests within the automountd service which is responsible for automatically mounting filesystems on demand. The vulnerability specifically impacts systems that have installed patches ranging from 108993-14 through 108993-19 and 108994-14 through 108994-19, indicating that the flaw was introduced or became apparent during these particular patch cycles. The automountd daemon serves as a crucial component in Solaris networking and filesystem management, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for system stability and availability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation or buffer handling within the automountd service when processing certain automount requests or configuration parameters. Local users can exploit this weakness by crafting specific inputs that trigger a crash in the automountd process, leading to a complete system denial of service. The vulnerability operates at the system level where local attackers with minimal privileges can leverage this flaw to disrupt normal system operations. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of software defects that can be classified as CWE-121, which deals with stack-based buffer overflow conditions, though the exact mechanism may vary based on the specific implementation details of the affected Solaris versions.
The operational impact of CVE-2003-1065 extends beyond simple service disruption as it can potentially affect entire networked environments where automount services are heavily utilized. When the automountd daemon crashes, it can prevent legitimate users from accessing network filesystems and shared resources, creating cascading effects throughout the organization's infrastructure. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where automated mounting of network resources is common and where system administrators may not immediately detect the service disruption. The local nature of the exploit means that attackers do not require network access or elevated privileges, making this vulnerability accessible to any user with local system access, which significantly increases the attack surface.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of the broader ATT&CK framework where it relates to privilege escalation and denial of service tactics. The vulnerability demonstrates how patch management processes can inadvertently introduce new security weaknesses, as the affected patch versions were specifically designed to address other issues but may have created this unintended side effect. Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying the appropriate security patches that address this specific automountd vulnerability, monitoring system logs for signs of exploitation attempts, and implementing network segmentation to limit local user access where possible. Additionally, system administrators should consider disabling automount services when they are not actively needed and implement proper access controls to limit local user privileges, thereby reducing the potential impact of such local privilege escalation vectors.
This vulnerability highlights the importance of comprehensive testing during patch deployment processes and demonstrates how seemingly benign system components can become attack vectors when specific conditions are met. The fact that this issue was present in multiple patch versions suggests a systemic problem in the implementation approach, indicating that organizations should maintain detailed patch management documentation and conduct thorough regression testing before deploying security updates. The vulnerability also underscores the need for continuous security monitoring and incident response procedures that can quickly identify and respond to service disruptions caused by such flaws, ensuring that organizations can maintain operational continuity even when facing these types of local denial of service attacks.