CVE-2015-4779 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 integrity and availability via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-4774 and CVE-2015-4788.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/27/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-4779 affects Oracle Berkeley DB's Data Store component across multiple version ranges 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 critical security flaw within one of the most widely deployed embedded database solutions in enterprise environments. The Data Store component serves as the foundational storage mechanism for Berkeley DB applications, making this vulnerability particularly concerning given the extensive deployment of this technology across various industries including finance, telecommunications, and government sectors. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors indicates that attackers could potentially exploit multiple attack surfaces within the Data Store functionality, creating a broad threat landscape that requires careful analysis and remediation.
The technical flaw manifests as a local privilege escalation vulnerability that impacts both data integrity and system availability. While the exact attack vectors remain unspecified, the classification as affecting integrity and availability aligns with common database security concerns where malicious actors could potentially corrupt data structures or disrupt database operations. This vulnerability operates at the local user level, meaning that an attacker must already have access to the system to exploit it, but the impact on data integrity and availability makes it particularly dangerous in environments where local access might be compromised through other attack vectors. The vulnerability differs from related CVE-2015-4774 and CVE-2015-4788, indicating that this represents a distinct attack surface within the Berkeley DB ecosystem that requires separate mitigation strategies.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability could result in significant business disruption for organizations relying on Oracle Berkeley DB for critical data storage operations. The potential for data integrity compromise means that database records could become corrupted or modified in ways that might not be immediately detectable, leading to downstream operational issues including financial losses, compliance violations, and system downtime. Availability impacts could manifest as database service interruptions or complete system crashes, particularly during peak operational hours when database access is most critical. Organizations using Berkeley DB in mission-critical applications face particular risk since the vulnerability could be exploited to cause cascading failures throughout their data infrastructure, potentially affecting multiple dependent systems that rely on consistent database availability.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation of this vulnerability through official Oracle patches and updates, as the unspecified nature of attack vectors suggests that this vulnerability may be actively exploited in the wild. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive vulnerability assessment across all systems running affected Berkeley DB versions, followed by systematic patch deployment and thorough testing to ensure no regression issues are introduced. Network segmentation and access controls should be reviewed to limit local user access where possible, and monitoring should be enhanced to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification under CWE categories related to database integrity and availability concerns aligns with ATT&CK tactics focusing on privilege escalation and resource consumption, making it essential for security teams to implement both preventive and detective controls. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the broader database ecosystem and ensure comprehensive security coverage.