CVE-2013-3757 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Solaris 8, 9, 10, and 11 allows remote attackers to affect integrity and availability via vectors related to SMF/File Locking Services.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/20/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3757 resides within Oracle Solaris operating systems across multiple versions including 8, 9, 10, and 11. This unspecified flaw manifests within the Service Management Facility and File Locking Services components, representing a critical weakness in the system's core infrastructure management capabilities. The vulnerability's classification as remote in nature indicates that attackers can exploit this weakness from external network positions without requiring local system access, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where Solaris systems are deployed. The affected services operate at a fundamental level within the operating system, controlling service startup, shutdown, and management processes while also handling file locking mechanisms that ensure data consistency and system stability.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability leverages weaknesses in how Solaris manages service instances and file locking operations through the SMF framework. Attackers can potentially manipulate service states or file access controls in ways that compromise the integrity of system services and data files. This flaw specifically targets the underlying mechanisms that govern how services are registered, managed, and locked during operation, allowing malicious actors to disrupt normal service behavior or corrupt file system integrity. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks that could compromise the entire system's operational state. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability would fall under CWE-264, representing permissions, privileges, and access controls issues, while the ATT&CK framework would categorize this under privilege escalation and service execution tactics.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-3757 is severe and multifaceted, affecting both the integrity and availability aspects of affected Solaris systems. System administrators may experience unexpected service failures, data corruption, or complete service unavailability when attackers exploit this vulnerability. The integrity compromise means that critical system files and service configurations could be modified without proper authorization, potentially leading to persistent backdoors or unauthorized access points. Availability impacts manifest through service disruption that could affect business-critical applications depending on Solaris services, with potential cascading failures throughout networked systems that rely on proper service management. Organizations running these older Solaris versions face significant risk exposure, particularly those with legacy systems that cannot be immediately upgraded due to compatibility constraints or business requirements. The vulnerability's presence in multiple Solaris versions indicates a widespread weakness that affects various deployment scenarios from enterprise data centers to embedded systems.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action from system administrators to implement appropriate security measures. Oracle released patches and security updates specifically addressing this issue, which should be deployed across all affected Solaris installations as a priority. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation to limit exposure of critical Solaris systems to external threats while monitoring for suspicious service management activities. Access controls should be strengthened around SMF and file locking services, ensuring that only authorized personnel can modify service configurations or access critical system files. System administrators should also implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect unusual service behavior or file locking patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The ATT&CK framework suggests implementing defensive measures such as process monitoring, service integrity checking, and network traffic analysis to identify potential exploitation activities. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any other related weaknesses in their Solaris environments and develop incident response procedures specifically addressing service management and file locking vulnerabilities.