CVE-2015-2640 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-2015-2624, CVE-2015-2626, 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 • 07/14/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-2640 represents a significant security weakness within Oracle Berkeley DB's Data Store component, affecting multiple version releases including 11.2.5.1.29, 11.2.5.2.42, 11.2.5.3.28, and 12.1.6.0.35. This issue falls under the category of unspecified vulnerability types, indicating that the specific technical flaw has not been publicly disclosed in detail, which is common with certain classes of database security issues. The vulnerability's classification as affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability demonstrates its potential for causing widespread damage to database systems that utilize these affected versions. The Data Store component serves as a critical foundation for Berkeley DB's data management capabilities, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on this database technology for their operational data storage and retrieval functions.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the underlying implementation flaws within the Data Store component that allow local users to exploit unknown vectors to compromise system security. Local privilege escalation vulnerabilities typically arise from inadequate access controls, improper input validation, or memory management issues within database systems. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors suggests that this vulnerability could potentially manifest through multiple pathways including buffer overflows, privilege escalation mechanisms, or improper resource handling within the database engine. The fact that this vulnerability operates independently from other reported issues such as CVE-2015-2583 through CVE-2015-4790 indicates that it represents a distinct code execution or access control flaw within the database's core architecture. Such vulnerabilities often leverage the elevated privileges available to local users to bypass security controls that would otherwise protect database integrity.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-2640 extends beyond simple data compromise, as it affects all three fundamental pillars of information security. Confidentiality breaches could result in unauthorized access to sensitive data stored within the database, potentially exposing proprietary information, personal data, or business-critical records. Integrity violations may allow attackers to modify database contents, corrupt data structures, or manipulate transactional consistency, leading to financial losses or operational disruptions. Availability threats could manifest as denial-of-service conditions that prevent legitimate users from accessing database services, potentially causing business interruption or system unavailability. Organizations utilizing affected Berkeley DB versions face significant risk of data breaches, system downtime, and regulatory compliance violations, particularly in environments where database systems handle sensitive information such as financial records, healthcare data, or personal identification information.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, beginning with upgrading to patched versions of Oracle Berkeley DB as soon as available from Oracle's security advisories. Organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify systems running affected versions and prioritize remediation efforts based on risk exposure and business criticality. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit local user privileges and reduce potential attack surfaces. Monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect anomalous database access patterns or unauthorized modifications that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification aligns with common attack patterns found in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation and defense evasion techniques, particularly when local users leverage database-specific weaknesses to gain unauthorized access. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions and regular security audits to identify similar vulnerabilities that may exist within their database infrastructure. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date database security patches and implementing comprehensive security monitoring strategies to protect against persistent threats targeting database systems.