CVE-2008-0933 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple race conditions in the CPU Performance Counters (cpc) subsystem in the kernel in Sun Solaris 10 allow local users to cause a denial of service (panic) via unspecified vectors related to kcpc_unbind and kcpc_restore.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/01/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-0933 resides within the CPU Performance Counters subsystem of Sun Solaris 10 operating systems, specifically within the kernel's handling of performance monitoring hardware. This issue manifests through multiple race conditions that occur during the operation of the kcpc_unbind and kcpc_restore functions, which are critical components responsible for managing the binding and restoration of performance counter resources. These race conditions create exploitable scenarios where concurrent access patterns can lead to system instability and complete system crashes.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate synchronization mechanisms within the kernel's performance counter management code. When multiple threads or processes attempt to access the performance counter subsystem simultaneously, particularly during the unbinding and restoration operations, the lack of proper locking mechanisms allows for inconsistent states to develop within the kernel data structures. This condition is classified as a race condition under CWE-362, representing a concurrency issue where the timing and ordering of execution can lead to unpredictable behavior. The specific functions kcpc_unbind and kcpc_restore are particularly vulnerable because they handle the critical operations of detaching and reattaching performance monitoring hardware resources, which require strict temporal coordination to maintain system integrity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it allows local users to trigger system panics and denial of service conditions without requiring elevated privileges. An attacker with access to the local system can exploit these race conditions to force the kernel into an unstable state, resulting in system crashes that can disrupt normal operations and potentially provide a vector for more sophisticated attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper kernel synchronization mechanisms in preventing local privilege escalation and system stability issues. From an adversarial perspective, this represents a low-effort method for causing system disruption that aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 for network denial of service and T1068 for local privilege escalation through kernel exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-0933 should focus on implementing proper kernel synchronization mechanisms and ensuring that all performance counter operations are properly protected with appropriate locking primitives. System administrators should apply the relevant security patches provided by Sun Microsystems to address the race condition vulnerabilities in the kernel's performance counter subsystem. Additionally, monitoring for unusual system behavior or kernel panics can help detect exploitation attempts, while restricting local access to system resources can reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability highlights the importance of thorough testing for concurrency issues in kernel code and demonstrates how seemingly minor synchronization problems can lead to critical system stability issues. Regular kernel updates and security assessments are essential to prevent exploitation of similar race condition vulnerabilities that could potentially lead to more severe consequences including privilege escalation or persistent system compromise.