CVE-2014-6490 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Sun Solaris 11 allows remote attackers to affect availability via vectors related to SMB server user component.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/23/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6490 represents a significant security flaw within Oracle Sun Solaris 11 operating system that affects the Server Message Block (SMB) server user component. This issue falls under the broader category of availability attacks that can disrupt normal system operations and compromise the reliability of network services. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and error handling mechanisms within the SMB server implementation, creating potential entry points for malicious actors to exploit system resources and cause service disruption.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies in the improper handling of SMB protocol messages within the Solaris 11 environment, specifically within the user component of the SMB server functionality. Attackers can leverage this weakness through remote network connections to send specially crafted SMB requests that trigger buffer overflows, memory corruption, or other exploitable conditions within the system's SMB implementation. This flaw operates at the protocol level, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited without requiring local system access or authentication credentials. The vulnerability's classification as unspecified suggests that the exact technical mechanism may involve multiple potential attack vectors within the SMB server stack.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations relying on Solaris 11 systems for file sharing and network services. The availability compromise can result in complete service disruption, making network resources inaccessible to legitimate users and potentially causing business continuity issues. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to perform denial-of-service attacks that render SMB shares unavailable, effectively cutting off file access for users and applications that depend on these services. The remote nature of the attack means that systems can be compromised from external networks without requiring physical access or elevated privileges, making it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to disrupt operations.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying Oracle's security patches and updates that address the specific SMB server vulnerabilities within Solaris 11. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be configured to restrict SMB traffic to only trusted networks and systems, while monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous SMB protocol activity. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which involves network disruption and availability attacks, and maps to CWE-121 which deals with stack-based buffer overflow conditions. System administrators should also consider disabling SMB services when not required and implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious SMB traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.
The broader implications of CVE-2014-6490 highlight the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches for enterprise operating systems, particularly those running legacy services like SMB that have historically been vulnerable to various attack vectors. This vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor protocol implementation flaws can result in major availability compromises, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security testing and monitoring of network services. Organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all systems running affected SMB implementations and ensure that proper security controls are in place to prevent exploitation. The incident underscores the necessity of following security best practices such as principle of least privilege, regular security updates, and continuous monitoring to protect against similar vulnerabilities that may exist in other network services or operating system components.