CVE-2010-4440 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle 10 and 11 Express allows local users to affect availability via unknown vectors related to the Kernel.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/12/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-4440 represents a significant security weakness within Oracle Database versions 10 and 11 Express Editions that resides in the kernel component of the database system. This unspecified flaw falls under the category of availability impact, meaning that malicious local users can potentially disrupt the normal operation of the database service without necessarily gaining unauthorized access to data or system resources. The kernel serves as the core component of the database engine responsible for managing system resources, processing queries, and maintaining database integrity, making any vulnerability in this area particularly concerning for database administrators and security professionals.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the kernel's handling of certain internal processes or system calls that may not properly validate input parameters or may contain race conditions that can be exploited by local attackers. As a local privilege escalation vulnerability, it requires an attacker to already have access to the system with user-level privileges, but the exploit can potentially allow them to cause system instability or complete service disruption. The unspecified vectors suggest that the exact mechanism of exploitation remains undocumented or that multiple attack paths exist within the kernel implementation that all lead to the same availability compromise. This type of vulnerability often manifests through memory corruption issues, improper resource management, or failure to properly handle concurrent access scenarios within the database kernel.
The operational impact of CVE-2010-4440 extends beyond simple service disruption as it can potentially lead to complete database outages that affect business operations and data availability. Local users with minimal privileges can leverage this vulnerability to cause the database service to crash or become unresponsive, requiring manual intervention to restore normal operations. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in production environments where database availability is critical for business continuity, as it can be exploited by disgruntled employees or compromised user accounts to cause service interruptions. The impact is further amplified by the fact that Oracle Express Edition is commonly used in small to medium business environments where security monitoring and patch management may be less robust than in enterprise deployments.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying the relevant Oracle security patches that address the kernel-level issues. System administrators should also consider implementing additional monitoring solutions to detect unusual database behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-119, which deals with improper access to memory locations, and may also relate to CWE-362, concerning race conditions in concurrent systems. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability could be categorized under privilege escalation techniques that leverage kernel-level weaknesses, potentially allowing attackers to move laterally within the system or maintain persistent access through database service disruption. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar kernel-level weaknesses that may not yet be publicly documented but could pose similar risks to database availability and system stability.