CVE-2007-0980 in Serviceguard for Linux
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in HP Serviceguard for Linux; packaged for SuSE SLES8 and United Linux 1.0 before SG A.11.15.07, SuSE SLES9 and SLES10 before SG A.11.16.10, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) before SG A.11.16.10; allows remote attackers to obtain unauthorized access via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/01/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0980 represents a critical security flaw within HP Serviceguard for Linux implementations across multiple enterprise Linux distributions. This distributed system management solution provides high availability and fault tolerance capabilities for mission-critical applications, making it a prime target for malicious actors seeking unauthorized system access. The vulnerability affects specific versions of Serviceguard that were packaged for SuSE SLES8 and United Linux 1.0 before SG A.11.15.07, SuSE SLES9 and SLES10 before SG A.11.16.10, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux before SG A.11.16.10, indicating a widespread impact across enterprise Linux environments that relied on this high availability framework. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors suggests that the flaw could potentially be exploited through multiple attack pathways, making it particularly dangerous as defenders struggle to identify all possible exploitation methods.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls and authentication mechanisms within the Serviceguard framework, allowing remote attackers to bypass normal security boundaries and gain unauthorized access to the system. This represents a fundamental failure in the principle of least privilege and secure by default design principles that should govern enterprise system management software. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues, and may also relate to CWE-310, concerning cryptographic weaknesses that could be exploited to compromise authentication mechanisms. The fact that this vulnerability affects multiple Linux distributions indicates a common underlying flaw in the Serviceguard implementation rather than distribution-specific issues, suggesting a systemic problem in how the software handles remote authentication and authorization processes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple unauthorized access, as Serviceguard implementations typically manage critical enterprise applications and databases that require high availability and fault tolerance. When attackers can exploit this vulnerability, they gain access to the entire high availability management infrastructure, potentially allowing them to disrupt services, manipulate failover mechanisms, or even take control of critical system components. This vulnerability directly impacts the CIA triad by compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the managed systems. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that Serviceguard is designed to be highly available and often runs with elevated privileges, making successful exploitation particularly damaging to enterprise security posture. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and lateral movement, as attackers could leverage the compromised Serviceguard instance to access other systems within the network.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement comprehensive patch management strategies to upgrade to Serviceguard versions A.11.15.07 or later for SuSE systems and A.11.16.10 or later for Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict remote access to Serviceguard management interfaces, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual authentication patterns or unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments to identify all instances of affected Serviceguard implementations and ensure that proper access controls are in place to prevent unauthorized remote access to critical system management functions. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches for enterprise system management software and underscores the need for robust security monitoring in high availability environments where system compromise can have cascading effects on business operations.