CVE-2015-4784 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-2015-2640, 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-2015-4785, 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-2015-4784 resides 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 unspecified weakness represents a significant security concern for systems utilizing Berkeley DB as their underlying database management solution, particularly given the broad range of affected versions that span across major release branches. The vulnerability's classification as affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability indicates a fundamental compromise of the system's core security properties, making it a critical concern for enterprise environments where data protection and system reliability are paramount.
The technical nature of this vulnerability remains unspecified in the public description, which is typical for certain classes of database security flaws that may involve memory corruption, improper access controls, or race conditions within the Data Store component. Such unspecified vulnerabilities often stem from complex interactions between database operations, memory management, and concurrent access patterns that can create unpredictable security weaknesses. The fact that this vulnerability differs from a comprehensive list of other CVEs suggests it operates through distinct attack vectors or mechanisms that were not covered by the previously identified issues, indicating a potentially unique exploitation pathway within the Berkeley DB architecture.
From an operational perspective, local users possessing access to systems running affected Berkeley DB versions can potentially exploit this vulnerability to compromise system security in multiple dimensions. The confidentiality impact implies that sensitive data stored within the database could be accessed by unauthorized local entities, while integrity concerns suggest that data modification or corruption might occur. The availability component indicates that system resources or database functionality could be disrupted, potentially leading to denial of service conditions that impact business operations. This multi-faceted impact makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where database systems serve as critical infrastructure components.
The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE categories related to database security and access control failures, though specific CWE mapping would require detailed technical analysis of the underlying flaw. Organizations utilizing Berkeley DB should consider this vulnerability as part of broader database security assessments, particularly when evaluating the risk of local privilege escalation and data exposure in environments where multiple users share system resources. The ATT&CK framework would classify this as a local privilege escalation or data exposure technique, potentially enabling lateral movement or persistent access within affected systems.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected Berkeley DB installations to the latest available versions that contain fixes for this vulnerability. System administrators should also implement additional access controls and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual database access patterns or privilege escalation activities. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments across their entire infrastructure to identify all systems running affected Berkeley DB versions, as the vulnerability may be present in various deployment scenarios including embedded systems, enterprise applications, and custom software solutions that depend on the database component. Regular security updates and patch management processes should be strengthened to prevent similar vulnerabilities from remaining unaddressed in future releases.