CVE-2011-0816 in Enterprise Manager Grid Control
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the CMDB Metadata & Instance APIs component in Oracle Database Server 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4, 10.2.0.5, 11.1.0.7, 11.2.0.1, and 11.2.0.2; and Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control 10.1.0.6 and 10.2.0.5; allows remote authenticated users to affect confidentiality and integrity via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/14/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-0816 affects the CMDB Metadata & Instance APIs component within Oracle Database Server versions spanning multiple releases including 10.1.0.5 through 11.2.0.2, alongside Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control versions 10.1.0.6 and 10.2.0.5. This unspecified weakness resides within a critical subsystem that manages configuration management database metadata and instance information, representing a fundamental component in enterprise database administration and monitoring infrastructure. The vulnerability impacts organizations utilizing these specific Oracle products in their enterprise environments where database metadata and configuration information are managed through the affected APIs.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from unspecified attack vectors that allow authenticated remote attackers to compromise both confidentiality and integrity aspects of the affected systems. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability would likely fall under CWE-284: Improper Access Control or CWE-250: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges, given that the attack requires authentication but can potentially escalate privileges or access sensitive data. The affected CMDB Metadata & Instance APIs component represents a potential entry point for attackers who have already established authentication credentials within the Oracle environment, suggesting that the vulnerability may involve improper privilege enforcement or access control mechanisms within the API layer itself.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on Oracle Database Server and Enterprise Manager Grid Control for their database management and monitoring operations. Attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability could potentially access sensitive configuration metadata, modify database instance information, or extract confidential data that would normally be protected by access controls. The confidentiality impact suggests that unauthorized data exposure could occur through information disclosure mechanisms, while the integrity impact indicates that attackers might be able to modify or corrupt configuration data that could affect database operations and system stability. The remote nature of the attack vector means that exploitation could occur from outside the organization's network perimeter, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous for organizations with exposed database services.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Oracle security patches and updates that address this vulnerability, restricting network access to Oracle database services through firewalls and network segmentation, implementing strict access controls and authentication mechanisms, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts or anomalous API usage patterns. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining current security patches and the need for comprehensive security monitoring across all database management components. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their Oracle environments to identify any additional attack surfaces that might be vulnerable to similar exploitation techniques, as this vulnerability may indicate broader issues with the access control mechanisms within Oracle's database management infrastructure.
The ATT&CK framework would categorize this vulnerability under techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access, specifically mapping to T1078 Valid Accounts and T1566 Phishing, as attackers would need valid authentication credentials to exploit this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions that can detect unusual API access patterns or unauthorized modifications to metadata and instance information, providing additional layers of defense against potential exploitation of this and similar vulnerabilities in their Oracle database environments.