CVE-2008-2286 in Altiris Deployment Solution
Summary
by MITRE
SQL injection vulnerability in axengine.exe in Symantec Altiris Deployment Solution 6.8.x and 6.9.x before 6.9.176 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via unspecified string fields in a notification packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/10/2019
The CVE-2008-2286 vulnerability represents a critical sql injection flaw within Symantec Altiris Deployment Solution versions 6.8.x and 6.9.x prior to 6.9.176. This vulnerability specifically targets the axengine.exe component which serves as the core engine responsible for processing deployment notifications and managing client communications within the Altiris environment. The flaw exists in how the system handles string inputs within notification packets, creating an avenue for remote attackers to inject malicious sql commands directly into the backend database system. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and demonstrates a classic sql injection weakness that has been consistently identified as one of the most dangerous web application security flaws by both the owasp foundation and cwe database.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate the axengine.exe process through specially crafted notification packets containing malicious string data. When the engine processes these packets, it fails to properly sanitize or escape input parameters before incorporating them into sql query constructs. This oversight enables attackers to append arbitrary sql commands to legitimate queries, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the underlying database system. The vulnerability's remote exploitation capability means that attackers do not require local system access or credentials to leverage this flaw, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where such systems are often exposed to external networks. The attack vector operates through the standard notification mechanisms used by the Altiris deployment solution, making it difficult to detect and prevent without proper input validation measures.
The operational impact of CVE-2008-2286 extends far beyond simple data theft, as successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise and data destruction. Attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability can execute commands with the privileges of the database user account, potentially gaining access to sensitive corporate data including user credentials, system configurations, and deployment policies. The vulnerability's presence in the deployment solution's notification engine means that any system communicating with the Altiris server could serve as an attack vector, potentially affecting multiple endpoints across the enterprise network. Organizations using this software may experience unauthorized access to their deployment infrastructure, leading to potential service disruption, data exfiltration, and unauthorized system modifications. This vulnerability directly maps to the attack pattern described in the mitre attack framework under the privilege escalation and credential access tactics, specifically targeting the database layer as outlined in the attack technique identifiers.
The remediation strategy for CVE-2008-2286 requires immediate application of Symantec's official patch release 6.9.176 or later, which addresses the input validation issues within the axengine.exe component. Organizations should implement comprehensive network segmentation to limit access to Altiris deployment servers, particularly restricting communication to trusted networks and systems. Input validation controls should be strengthened at multiple layers including application-level sanitization, database parameterization, and network-level filtering to prevent malicious payloads from reaching the vulnerable engine. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual notification packet patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, while regular vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar flaws in other enterprise systems. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and demonstrates the critical nature of proper input validation as outlined in the cwe-79 and cwe-89 categories, which specifically address cross-site scripting and sql injection weaknesses respectively. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions to detect anomalous sql execution patterns that may indicate exploitation of similar vulnerabilities.