CVE-2015-2651 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Sun Solaris 11.2 allows local users to affect availability via vectors related to Kernel Zones virtualized NIC driver.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/02/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-2651 resides within Oracle Sun Solaris 11.2 operating system and represents a significant security flaw affecting the kernel zones virtualized network interface controller driver. This issue manifests as an unspecified weakness that local attackers can exploit to compromise system availability, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments where system reliability and uptime are critical. The vulnerability specifically targets the virtualized network driver component within the kernel zones implementation, which is a core feature enabling isolated execution environments within the Solaris operating system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and potentially inadequate error handling within the kernel zones virtualized NIC driver implementation. When local users interact with the virtualized network interface, the driver fails to properly validate or sanitize input parameters, creating opportunities for malicious manipulation that can lead to system instability or complete service disruption. This flaw operates at the kernel level within the virtualization framework, making it particularly dangerous as it can potentially allow privilege escalation or denial of service conditions that affect the entire system. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-20, which represents improper input validation, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service, as it directly impacts the availability of network services through compromised virtualized components.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-2651 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the integrity of the entire virtualization environment. Local attackers with minimal privileges can leverage this vulnerability to cause system crashes, network interface failures, or complete system unavailability, particularly in environments heavily dependent on kernel zones for containerized applications or isolated execution environments. Organizations running Solaris 11.2 systems with active kernel zones implementations face significant risk as this vulnerability can be exploited without requiring elevated privileges, making it accessible to any user with local access to the system. The attack surface is particularly broad in virtualized environments where multiple zones share the same physical hardware and network resources, potentially allowing a single compromised zone to affect network availability across the entire system.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-2651 should prioritize immediate patching of Oracle Solaris 11.2 systems through official Oracle security updates, which would address the underlying kernel zones virtualized NIC driver vulnerability. System administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit local user privileges, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Additionally, monitoring for unusual network interface behavior or system stability issues should be enabled to detect potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider temporarily disabling kernel zones functionality if not immediately required, as this would eliminate the attack vector entirely. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of secure kernel module development practices and proper input validation within virtualization components, aligning with security best practices outlined in NIST SP 800-144 and ISO/IEC 27001 standards for operating system security controls. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar issues within the virtualization stack, as this vulnerability represents a class of issues affecting virtualized network drivers that may have analogous weaknesses in other systems.