CVE-2007-0882 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Argument injection vulnerability in the telnet daemon (in.telnetd) in Solaris 10 and 11 (SunOS 5.10 and 5.11) misinterprets certain client "-f" sequences as valid requests for the login program to skip authentication, which allows remote attackers to log into certain accounts, as demonstrated by the bin account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0882 represents a critical argument injection flaw within the telnet daemon implementation of Solaris operating systems. This issue affects both Solaris 10 and Solaris 11 releases, specifically targeting the in.telnetd service that handles remote terminal connections. The flaw stems from improper parsing of command-line arguments received from remote telnet clients, creating a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate the authentication process through carefully crafted input sequences.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves the telnet daemon's failure to properly validate and sanitize input parameters received from connecting clients. When a client sends specific sequences containing the "-f" flag, the daemon incorrectly interprets these as legitimate requests to bypass authentication mechanisms within the login program. This misinterpretation occurs at the argument parsing level where the daemon fails to distinguish between legitimate command-line options and maliciously crafted inputs designed to exploit the service. The vulnerability specifically targets the interaction between the telnet daemon and the login program, allowing attackers to inject arguments that modify the authentication flow.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with the ability to gain entry into specific system accounts without proper authentication credentials. The demonstration of this flaw against the bin account illustrates how attackers can leverage this weakness to access system accounts that may have elevated privileges or special permissions. This type of vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and can potentially lead to complete system compromise, especially when attackers target accounts with administrative capabilities or access to sensitive system resources. The remote nature of the exploit means that attackers can leverage this vulnerability from outside the network perimeter without requiring local access or prior credentials.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-78 categories, which encompass command injection and argument injection flaws respectively. The attack pattern corresponds to techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1110 category for Brute Force and T1078 for Valid Accounts, as the flaw enables unauthorized access through legitimate account credentials. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Solaris patches, disabling telnet services where possible, and implementing network segmentation to limit exposure. Additionally, monitoring for unusual telnet connection patterns and implementing proper input validation on all network services can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization in network services and highlights the risks associated with legacy protocols like telnet that lack modern security features such as encryption and robust authentication mechanisms.