CVE-2015-4785 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-2015-4784, 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-2015-4785 represents a significant security flaw within Oracle Berkeley DB's Data Store component, affecting multiple version iterations 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, indicating that the exact technical mechanism remains undisclosed by the vendor, which is common for certain classes of security flaws that may involve complex interactions between multiple system components. The vulnerability's classification as local user affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability demonstrates its potential to cause widespread damage within systems where Berkeley DB is deployed. Such a vulnerability represents a critical concern for database administrators and security professionals who rely on Berkeley DB for data storage and management across various applications and services.
The technical nature of this vulnerability within the Data Store component suggests potential weaknesses in how the database handles data processing, storage, or access control mechanisms. While the specific attack vectors remain unspecified, the impact spans all three fundamental pillars of information security: confidentiality through potential data exposure, integrity via possible data corruption or modification, and availability through potential service disruption or denial of access. This broad impact range indicates that the flaw likely resides in core database operations or system-level functions that govern how data is managed and protected within the Berkeley DB environment. The vulnerability's designation as distinct from numerous other CVE identifiers suggests it operates through different mechanisms than previously disclosed flaws, potentially involving novel attack surfaces or previously unconsidered interaction patterns within the database's architecture.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations deploying Oracle Berkeley DB in production environments where local user access is possible. Local attackers who can execute code on systems running affected Berkeley DB versions can potentially exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, modify database contents, or disrupt database services entirely. The impact extends beyond simple data compromise to include potential system-wide availability issues that could affect business continuity and service delivery. Organizations using Berkeley DB for critical applications, including financial systems, healthcare databases, or enterprise resource planning solutions, face heightened risk of operational disruption and data breaches. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability means that security teams cannot implement targeted defensive measures without comprehensive analysis of their specific Berkeley DB implementations.
Security mitigations for CVE-2015-4785 should prioritize immediate patching and updating of affected Berkeley DB installations to the latest available versions that address this vulnerability. System administrators should conduct thorough inventory assessments to identify all systems running affected versions and implement network segmentation to limit local access privileges where possible. Monitoring and logging of database access activities should be enhanced to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification as affecting local users aligns with common attack patterns described in the ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation and persistence techniques, where attackers leverage local access to establish more extensive system control. Organizations should also consider implementing principle of least privilege access controls and regular security assessments of their database environments to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities. Given the broad impact scope and unspecified attack vectors, comprehensive security reviews of all database systems should be conducted to ensure protection against similar undisclosed vulnerabilities that may exist within the same software ecosystem.
This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the risks associated with using legacy database software versions. The fact that this vulnerability exists alongside numerous other CVEs affecting the same product line indicates potential systemic security weaknesses that require comprehensive vulnerability management strategies. Organizations should establish robust processes for tracking and implementing security updates across all database components, particularly those that handle sensitive or critical data. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability also highlights the need for advanced threat detection capabilities and security research efforts that can identify and characterize security flaws before they are fully disclosed. This case underscores the necessity of maintaining security awareness and proactive vulnerability management practices to protect against both known and unknown threats within database infrastructure environments.