CVE-2015-2624 in Berkeley DB
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Data Store component in Oracle Berkeley DB 11.2.5.1.29, 11.2.5.2.42, 11.2.5.3.28, and 12.1.6.0.35 allows local users to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-2583, CVE-2015-2626, CVE-2015-2640, CVE-2015-2654, CVE-2015-2656, CVE-2015-4754, CVE-2015-4764, CVE-2015-4775, CVE-2015-4776, CVE-2015-4777, CVE-2015-4778, CVE-2015-4780, CVE-2015-4781, CVE-2015-4782, CVE-2015-4783, CVE-2015-4784, CVE-2015-4785, CVE-2015-4786, CVE-2015-4787, CVE-2015-4789, and CVE-2015-4790.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/13/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-2624 affects Oracle Berkeley DB's Data Store component across multiple versions including 11.2.5.1.29, 11.2.5.2.42, 11.2.5.3.28, and 12.1.6.0.35. This represents a significant security weakness within one of the most widely deployed embedded database solutions in enterprise environments, where the Data Store component serves as the foundational storage mechanism for applications requiring high-performance data management. The vulnerability's classification as unspecified indicates that the exact technical details were not publicly disclosed at the time of reporting, which is common for certain types of security flaws that may involve complex interactions between multiple system components or require specific environmental conditions to manifest.
The impact of this vulnerability spans all three fundamental principles of information security confidentiality, integrity, and availability, suggesting that local attackers could potentially exploit this weakness to compromise sensitive data, modify critical database records, or disrupt system operations entirely. The fact that this vulnerability operates through unknown vectors distinguishes it from previously identified issues such as CVE-2015-2583 through CVE-2015-4790, indicating that attackers may have discovered novel attack paths or exploitation techniques that were not previously documented in the security community. This characteristic makes the vulnerability particularly concerning as it suggests either a previously unknown flaw in the database engine's internal processing mechanisms or a sophisticated attack vector that requires specific conditions to be effective.
From a technical perspective, the local nature of this vulnerability implies that attackers must already have access to the system to exploit it, typically through legitimate user accounts or compromised system credentials. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where privilege escalation or lateral movement has occurred, as it could enable attackers to further compromise the database infrastructure. The Data Store component's role in managing database transactions, caching mechanisms, and data persistence operations means that exploitation could potentially lead to data corruption, unauthorized data access, or complete system disruption. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions of Oracle Berkeley DB indicates that this was likely a fundamental architectural issue rather than a simple coding error that could be addressed through targeted patches.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-2624 extends beyond immediate data security concerns to encompass broader enterprise risk management implications. Organizations relying on Oracle Berkeley DB for critical applications, including financial systems, healthcare databases, and enterprise resource planning solutions, face significant exposure if this vulnerability remains unpatched. The vulnerability's potential to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability aligns with common attack patterns described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the data protection and system compromise domains, where attackers seek to manipulate or extract sensitive information from database systems. Security professionals should note that the vulnerability's classification as unspecified makes traditional vulnerability assessment methodologies challenging, requiring more comprehensive monitoring and detection approaches.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected Oracle Berkeley DB installations, as the specific nature of the flaw suggests that vendor-provided updates would contain targeted fixes for the underlying security weakness. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring measures to detect unusual database access patterns or potential exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on local account behavior and system resource utilization anomalies. The vulnerability's presence across multiple versions indicates that organizations may need to conduct comprehensive inventory assessments to identify all affected systems and ensure proper patch management processes are in place. Security teams should consider implementing network segmentation and access control measures to limit local user privileges and reduce the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts, while also preparing incident response procedures that account for the possibility of data integrity violations or availability disruptions caused by this vulnerability.