CVE-2016-1569 in Firebird
Summary
by MITRE
FireBird 2.5.5 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) by using service manager to invoke the gbak utility with an invalid parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/14/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-1569 affects FireBird database version 2.5.5 and represents a denial of service flaw that can be exploited by authenticated remote attackers. This issue resides within the service manager component of the database system, specifically when invoking the gbak utility which is used for database backup and restore operations. The vulnerability stems from inadequate parameter validation within the service management interface, allowing malicious actors to craft specially formatted parameters that cause the database daemon to crash and become unavailable to legitimate users.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the service manager's interaction with the gbak utility, which is a critical database maintenance tool. When an authenticated user submits an invalid parameter to the gbak utility via the service manager interface, the system fails to properly validate the input before executing the backup operation. This lack of proper input sanitization creates a condition where malformed parameters can trigger unexpected behavior in the underlying database engine, ultimately leading to a complete daemon crash. The flaw operates at the application layer and requires authentication to exploit, making it less severe than unauthenticated vulnerabilities but still posing significant operational risks to database availability.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability can severely disrupt database services and compromise business continuity. When the database daemon crashes due to this flaw, all active connections are terminated and the system becomes inaccessible until manual intervention is performed to restart the service. The impact extends beyond simple downtime as database transactions may be lost, and the recovery process requires careful handling to prevent data corruption or inconsistency. Organizations relying on FireBird 2.5.5 for critical database operations face potential financial losses and service degradation during the time required to restore service availability. The vulnerability also indicates a broader security architecture weakness in input validation practices that could potentially expose other components to similar issues.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which identifies improper input validation as a fundamental security weakness in software systems. This weakness falls under the broader category of injection flaws that can lead to various security consequences including denial of service, data corruption, and potential privilege escalation. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability maps to the attack technique of service disruption within the MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically targeting the availability aspect of the CIA triad. Organizations should implement robust parameter validation mechanisms, maintain updated database versions, and deploy network monitoring to detect anomalous service manager activity. The recommended mitigation includes applying the vendor-provided security patch, implementing strict input validation for service manager parameters, and establishing monitoring protocols to detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, access controls should be tightened to limit service manager access to only authorized administrative users, reducing the attack surface for this specific vulnerability.