CVE-2010-2612 in OpenVMS
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the HP OpenVMS Auditing feature in OpenVMS ALPHA 7.3-2, 8.2, and 8.3; and OpenVMS for Integrity Servers 8.3 AND 8.3-1H1; allows local users to obtain sensitive information via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/06/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-2612 affects the HP OpenVMS auditing feature across multiple versions of the operating system including OpenVMS ALPHA 7.3-2, 8.2, and 8.3, as well as OpenVMS for Integrity Servers 8.3 and 8.3-1H1. This represents a significant security concern within enterprise computing environments that rely on HP OpenVMS for mission-critical operations. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors indicates that the exact technical mechanism remains undisclosed, which is common in cases where vendors are still investigating the full scope of the flaw or when the vulnerability involves complex interactions within the auditing subsystem.
The core technical flaw lies within the auditing feature implementation of the OpenVMS operating system, specifically related to information disclosure mechanisms. This type of vulnerability typically involves improper access controls or insufficient sanitization of audit logs and related data structures that could potentially expose sensitive information to unauthorized local users. The vulnerability's classification as a local privilege escalation issue suggests that attackers with legitimate user accounts could exploit this weakness to access data that should normally be restricted to privileged system components or administrators. Such flaws often stem from inadequate input validation, improper privilege separation, or flawed access control mechanisms within the operating system's security architecture.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses serious risks to organizations relying on HP OpenVMS systems for critical business operations. Local users who can exploit this vulnerability could potentially access confidential audit records, system configuration details, user credentials, or other sensitive operational data that would normally be protected by the system's security model. The potential for information disclosure could lead to further exploitation opportunities including privilege escalation, system compromise, or unauthorized access to sensitive business data. Organizations using affected OpenVMS versions may face compliance violations if audit data is compromised, particularly in regulated environments where audit trails are mandatory for regulatory compliance.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which covers "Information Exposure," and represents a classic example of how auditing features can inadvertently become attack vectors when not properly secured. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability would map to techniques involving privilege escalation and information gathering, potentially enabling adversaries to move laterally within systems or establish persistence. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying available security patches from HP, reviewing audit configurations to minimize information exposure, and monitoring for unusual access patterns in audit logs. The lack of specific exploit details underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and conducting regular vulnerability assessments to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by malicious actors.