CVE-2010-1973 in OpenVMS
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Auditing subsystem in HP OpenVMS 8.3, 8.2, 7.3-2, and earlier on the ALPHA platform, and 8.3-1H1, 8.3, 8.2-1, and earlier on the Itanium platform, allows local users to gain privileges or obtain sensitive information via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/06/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-1973 resides within the Auditing subsystem of HP OpenVMS operating systems, affecting multiple platform versions across both ALPHA and Itanium architectures. This unspecified weakness represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of the system's auditing mechanisms designed to track and control access to sensitive resources. The vulnerability specifically targets the auditing subsystem which is responsible for logging security-relevant events and maintaining audit trails that are essential for system monitoring and compliance. The affected versions include HP OpenVMS 8.3, 8.2, 7.3-2, and earlier releases on ALPHA platforms, while Itanium platforms are impacted by versions 8.3-1H1, 8.3, 8.2-1, and earlier versions, indicating a widespread issue across multiple generations of the operating system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation or improper access control mechanisms within the auditing subsystem that allows local users to exploit unknown vectors to either escalate privileges or extract sensitive information. This type of vulnerability typically falls under the category of privilege escalation or information disclosure issues, where the flaw enables unauthorized access to system resources that should normally be restricted. The unspecified vectors suggest that the vulnerability could be exploited through various attack paths including but not limited to malformed audit records, improper privilege checks during audit processing, or insecure handling of audit-related system calls. The local user requirement indicates that attackers must already have access to the system to exploit this weakness, though the privilege escalation aspect means that such access could be leveraged to gain elevated system privileges.
The operational impact of CVE-2010-1973 is significant for organizations relying on HP OpenVMS systems, particularly those in environments where audit logging is critical for compliance with security standards and regulatory requirements. When local users can exploit this vulnerability, they potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive audit data or can escalate their privileges to achieve system administrator level access, which compromises the fundamental security model of the operating system. This vulnerability undermines the trust model that relies on proper auditing to detect and prevent unauthorized activities, potentially allowing attackers to hide their presence or escalate their access without detection. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure, as privilege escalation capabilities can lead to complete system compromise and data breaches that may go undetected for extended periods.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying available security patches from HP, restricting local user access to minimize potential exploitation, and implementing additional monitoring controls around audit-related system calls. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control, and potentially CWE-200 which covers information exposure. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and credential access patterns where adversaries can leverage system weaknesses to gain elevated privileges. System administrators should also consider implementing network segmentation, enhanced logging, and regular security audits to detect potential exploitation attempts. Given the age of the affected versions, organizations should evaluate their migration paths to supported HP OpenVMS releases that contain proper fixes for this and related auditing subsystem vulnerabilities. The vulnerability represents a fundamental weakness in the security architecture that requires immediate attention to prevent potential exploitation leading to complete system compromise.