CVE-2011-0649 in Silver BPM Service
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in TIBCO Rendezvous 8.2.1 through 8.3.0, Enterprise Message Service (EMS) 5.1.0 through 6.0.0, Runtime Agent (TRA) 5.6.2 through 5.7.0, Silver BPM Service before 1.0.4, Silver CAP Service vebefore 1.0.2, and Silver BusinessWorks Service 1.0.0, when running on Unix systems, allow local users to gain root privileges via unknown vectors related to SUID and (1) Rendezvous Routing Daemon (rvrd), (2) Rendezvous Secure Daemon (rvsd), (3) Rendezvous Secure Routing Daemon (rvsrd), and (4) EMS Server (tibemsd).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2011-0649 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw affecting multiple TIBCO enterprise messaging and business process management products running on Unix systems. This vulnerability specifically targets components that utilize SUID (Set User ID) bit execution, creating a dangerous attack surface where local users can potentially escalate their privileges to root access. The affected products include TIBCO Rendezvous versions 8.2.1 through 8.3.0, Enterprise Message Service versions 5.1.0 through 6.0.0, Runtime Agent versions 5.6.2 through 5.7.0, along with several Silver service components. The exploitation occurs through four primary daemon processes: Rendezvous Routing Daemon (rvrd), Rendezvous Secure Daemon (rvsd), Rendezvous Secure Routing Daemon (rvsrd), and EMS Server (tibemsd), all of which are designed to operate with elevated privileges due to their system-level functions. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-269, which addresses improper privilege management, and more specifically to CWE-276, concerning insecure file permissions, as the SUID binaries likely contain insecure configurations that allow unauthorized privilege escalation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the exploitation of SUID binary execution contexts where the affected daemons are configured to run with root privileges. When these services are improperly configured or contain implementation flaws, local attackers can leverage the SUID bit to execute malicious code with elevated privileges. The unspecified nature of the exact vulnerability vectors suggests that multiple attack surfaces exist within the daemon implementations, potentially including buffer overflows, insecure parameter handling, or improper privilege checks during service initialization. The SUID mechanism is intended to allow services to perform privileged operations while running under non-privileged user accounts, but when misconfigured, it creates an attack vector where any local user can potentially invoke these services to gain root access. The vulnerability affects Unix systems specifically because these platforms implement SUID differently than Windows systems, with the SUID bit being a fundamental Unix security mechanism that when compromised, can lead to complete system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and potentially catastrophic for organizations running affected TIBCO products. A successful exploitation could result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to gain full administrative control over the affected systems. This privilege escalation capability enables attackers to modify system files, install backdoors, access sensitive data, and potentially pivot to other systems within the network. The vulnerability affects enterprise messaging infrastructure components that are often critical to business operations, meaning that exploitation could lead to service disruption, data breaches, and compliance violations. Organizations relying on TIBCO products for mission-critical messaging and business process automation face significant risk exposure, as these services are typically configured to run continuously and with elevated privileges. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation', and T1548.003, which addresses 'Sudo and Sudo Caching', since the exploitation involves leveraging elevated privilege mechanisms.
Organizations should immediately implement multiple layers of mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The primary recommendation involves patching or upgrading to versions that have resolved these privilege escalation issues, as TIBCO has likely released security patches for affected versions. System administrators should conduct immediate inventory checks to identify all affected systems and services, particularly focusing on the four daemon processes mentioned in the vulnerability description. Configuration hardening should include verifying that SUID bits are properly set only on necessary binaries and that no unnecessary SUID binaries exist on the systems. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit local user access to these critical services. The principle of least privilege should be enforced by ensuring that services run with the minimum required privileges, and unnecessary services should be disabled or removed from production systems. Additionally, monitoring and logging should be enhanced to detect any suspicious execution patterns of these daemon processes, and regular security audits should be conducted to verify that no unauthorized modifications have been made to the SUID binaries or service configurations. System integrity checking tools should be deployed to detect any unauthorized changes to critical system files that might indicate exploitation attempts.