CVE-2008-4005 in Database 11i
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Oracle Application Express component in Oracle Database 11.1.0.6 allows remote authenticated users to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-4005 resides within Oracle Application Express component of Oracle Database version 11.1.0.6, representing a critical security flaw that affects remote authenticated users. This unspecified vulnerability manifests within the database application framework that enables web-based application development and deployment. The Oracle Application Express component serves as a comprehensive development environment for building web applications that integrate with Oracle Database, making it a prime target for malicious actors seeking to exploit database infrastructure. The vulnerability's classification as unspecified indicates that the precise technical mechanism remains undisclosed, which is typical for certain classes of database security flaws that may involve multiple attack surfaces or complex interaction patterns.
The technical nature of this vulnerability allows authenticated users to potentially compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system through unspecified attack vectors. This triad of impacts suggests the vulnerability could enable data exfiltration, unauthorized modification of database contents, and service disruption. The authentication requirement indicates that attackers must first establish valid credentials to exploit the vulnerability, though this does not mitigate the severity of potential damage. The unspecified nature of the vectors implies that the flaw could involve multiple attack pathways including but not limited to injection attacks, privilege escalation, or manipulation of application logic flows. This ambiguity in attack vectors makes the vulnerability particularly challenging to defend against as security teams cannot predict or specifically protect against all potential exploitation methods.
The operational impact of CVE-2008-4005 extends beyond simple data compromise, potentially affecting business continuity and regulatory compliance. Organizations relying on Oracle Database 11.1.0.6 for mission-critical applications face significant risk of unauthorized data access or modification, which could result in financial loss, reputational damage, and legal consequences. The availability aspect of the vulnerability could lead to denial of service conditions that disrupt business operations, particularly for applications that depend heavily on Oracle Application Express functionality. The confidentiality impact suggests that sensitive data could be accessed by unauthorized parties, potentially exposing proprietary information, customer data, or financial records. This vulnerability represents a serious concern for database administrators and security professionals who must maintain the integrity of their database environments while managing the complexity of application-level security.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-4005 should focus on immediate patch management and comprehensive security hardening measures. Organizations must prioritize applying Oracle's security patches and updates as soon as they become available, as the vulnerability affects a core database component. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit the scope of potential exploitation, particularly restricting access to Oracle Application Express functionality to only necessary personnel. Regular security audits and monitoring of database activities can help detect anomalous behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-1000 classifications related to database security flaws and may map to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and data manipulation. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions and conducting regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar weaknesses in their database infrastructure. Given the unspecified nature of the attack vectors, a defense-in-depth approach incorporating multiple security layers provides the most effective protection against potential exploitation of this vulnerability.