CVE-2006-0862 in PortalSE
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in InfoVista PortalSE 2.0 Build 20087 on Solaris 8 without the IV00038969 hotfix allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted URL.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-0862 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within the InfoVista PortalSE 2.0 application running on Solaris 8 systems. This vulnerability specifically affects installations that have not applied the IV00038969 hotfix, creating a persistent security gap that remote attackers can exploit to access sensitive files on the target system. The flaw manifests through improper input validation in the application's URL handling mechanism, which fails to adequately sanitize user-supplied parameters before processing file requests.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access control measures within the PortalSE application's file retrieval subsystem. When a malicious actor crafts a specially formatted URL, the application processes this input without sufficient validation, allowing arbitrary file access through path traversal techniques. This weakness falls under the CWE-22 category of Path Traversal vulnerabilities, where insufficient input sanitization enables attackers to navigate the file system beyond intended boundaries. The vulnerability operates at the application layer, specifically targeting the web interface components that handle file operations and URL parsing.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to organizations deploying InfoVista PortalSE 2.0 on Solaris 8 infrastructure. Remote attackers can potentially access sensitive configuration files, database credentials, application source code, and other confidential data stored on the affected systems. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure, as attackers may gain insights into system architecture, network configurations, and potential attack vectors for further exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for Data from Information Repositories, enabling adversaries to collect sensitive data through improper access control mechanisms.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal technical expertise and can be accomplished through standard web-based attack methods. Attackers typically construct malicious URLs that leverage directory traversal sequences such as "../" or similar patterns to navigate to restricted file locations. Once successful, the attacker gains read access to files that should normally be protected, potentially including system configuration files, application logs, and sensitive business data. This vulnerability represents a classic example of how insufficient input validation can lead to severe security consequences in web applications.
Organizations should immediately implement the IV00038969 hotfix provided by InfoVista to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, network segmentation and firewall rules should be configured to limit access to the PortalSE application, particularly restricting external access to administrative interfaces. Regular security assessments and input validation reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure the hotfix does not introduce compatibility issues with existing system configurations. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring solutions to detect and prevent similar exploitation attempts in the future, as this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control mechanisms in preventing unauthorized data access.