CVE-2005-4735 in DB2 Universal Database
Summary
by MITRE
IBM DB2 Universal Database (UDB) 810 before 8.1 FP10 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (application crash) via (1) certain equality predicates that trigger self-removal, aka IY70808; and (2) a query with more than 32000 elements in the IN-list, aka LI70817.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/04/2019
IBM DB2 Universal Database version 8.1.0 and earlier contains critical vulnerabilities that enable authenticated remote attackers to induce denial of service conditions through carefully crafted database queries. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and improper handling of specific query constructs within the database engine's query processing logic. Attackers can exploit these flaws by submitting maliciously constructed SQL statements that trigger abnormal termination conditions within the database server process.
The first vulnerability class involves specific equality predicates that cause the database engine to initiate self-removal mechanisms, leading to application crashes and complete service disruption. This represents a fundamental flaw in the query evaluation engine where certain logical conditions trigger unexpected internal state modifications that result in process termination. The second vulnerability occurs when processing queries containing IN-list operations with more than 32,000 elements, which overwhelms the database engine's memory management and processing capabilities. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-129, Input Validation, and CWE-131, Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size, as it involves improper handling of large data structures and insufficient boundary checks.
From an operational perspective, these vulnerabilities pose significant risks to database availability and business continuity. The authenticated nature of the attack means that only users with valid database credentials can exploit these flaws, but this still represents a substantial security risk as it allows for service disruption without requiring elevated privileges. The impact extends beyond simple denial of service as the application crashes can result in data loss, transaction rollbacks, and extended downtime for database services. The vulnerability affects the core database engine functionality and can compromise the integrity of database operations.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the available IBM security patches and hotfixes that address these specific vulnerabilities. System administrators should also consider implementing query monitoring and limiting the size of IN-list operations through application-level controls. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and boundary checking in database systems, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service and T1566.001 for Phishing. Database administrators should also review and implement proper access controls to limit the number of authenticated users who can submit complex queries, reducing the attack surface for these specific vulnerabilities.