CVE-2003-1361 in Bare Metal Restore
Summary
by MITRE
Unknown vulnerability in VERITAS Bare Metal Restore (BMR) of Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) 3.1.0 through 3.2.1 allows remote attackers to gain root privileges on the BMR Main Server.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2003-1361 represents a critical security flaw within VERITAS Bare Metal Restore (BMR) component of Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) versions 3.1.0 through 3.2.1. This issue constitutes a remote privilege escalation vulnerability that enables attackers to achieve root-level access on the BMR Main Server, fundamentally compromising the security posture of enterprise backup and recovery systems. The vulnerability exists in the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the BMR service, creating an exploitable condition that bypasses normal security controls.
The technical flaw manifests through improper input validation and privilege handling within the BMR server application. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by sending specially crafted malicious requests to the BMR service, which then processes these inputs without adequate sanitization or access control verification. This leads to unauthorized privilege elevation, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with the highest system privileges. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers do not require physical access to the system or local network presence to exploit it, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where such services are exposed to external networks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, affecting enterprise backup infrastructure security and data protection capabilities. Once exploited, attackers gain complete control over the BMR Main Server, enabling them to manipulate backup operations, access sensitive data, modify backup policies, and potentially compromise the entire backup ecosystem. This vulnerability undermines the integrity of disaster recovery procedures and could lead to complete system compromise, data loss, or unauthorized data access. Organizations relying on TSM BMR for critical backup operations face significant risk of service disruption, data breaches, and regulatory compliance violations.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying vendor patches and updates, restricting network access to BMR services, implementing network segmentation, and monitoring for suspicious activities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-264, which addresses permissions, privileges, and access controls, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers exploit for privilege escalation. Organizations should also consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts and ensure proper access controls are enforced at multiple layers of the network infrastructure. The incident highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and conducting regular vulnerability assessments of critical enterprise infrastructure components.