CVE-2015-5402 in Systems Insight Manager
Summary
by MITRE
HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM) before 7.5.0, as used in HP Matrix Operating Environment before 7.5.0 and other products, allows local users to gain privileges, and consequently obtain sensitive information, modify data, or cause a denial of service, via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/20/2025
HP Systems Insight Manager version 7.4.0 and earlier contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that affects the HP Matrix Operating Environment and related products. This vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and improper privilege validation mechanisms within the SIM component. The flaw enables local attackers with system-level access to elevate their privileges to administrative levels, thereby gaining unauthorized access to sensitive system information and critical data. The vulnerability exists due to inadequate input validation and insufficient privilege separation between different user roles within the application architecture.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves weaknesses in the authentication and authorization subsystem of SIM. Attackers can exploit this issue through unspecified vectors that likely involve manipulating system calls or exploiting race conditions in privilege checking routines. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass data modification capabilities and potential denial of service conditions. This represents a critical security weakness that aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues, and specifically relates to privilege escalation scenarios. The flaw demonstrates poor adherence to the principle of least privilege and inadequate separation of duties within the software's security model.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to enterprise environments that rely on HP SIM for system monitoring and management. Local users who can access system resources may exploit this vulnerability to gain unauthorized administrative access, potentially compromising entire server infrastructures. The attack surface is particularly concerning in multi-user environments where system administrators may inadvertently grant local access to untrusted users. Organizations using affected versions face potential data breaches, system corruption, and service disruption. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple HP products indicates a fundamental flaw in the software architecture rather than a isolated incident, making it a systemic security concern.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching to HP SIM version 7.5.0 or later, which addresses the privilege escalation issues through enhanced access control mechanisms. Organizations should implement strict access control policies limiting local system access to authorized personnel only. Network segmentation and privilege monitoring should be enhanced to detect unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. Security audits should verify that the updated software properly enforces access controls and that no residual privilege escalation paths exist. The vulnerability's characteristics suggest potential exploitation through techniques aligned with attack patterns documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation tactics, making proactive monitoring essential for early detection of exploitation attempts.