CVE-2016-5553 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Sun Solaris 10 and 11.3 allows local users to affect availability via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/27/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-5553 represents a significant security flaw within Oracle Sun Solaris operating systems, specifically affecting versions 10 and 11.3. This issue falls under the category of local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that could potentially compromise system availability through unspecified attack vectors. The vulnerability resides within the core operating system components, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments where Solaris systems are deployed. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors suggests that multiple pathways could be exploited, potentially including kernel-level flaws, device driver vulnerabilities, or system service misconfigurations. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they require minimal privileges to exploit and can result in system instability or complete system compromise, directly impacting the availability and integrity of critical infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental weakness in Solaris system security architecture that allows local users to manipulate system resources in ways that could lead to denial of service conditions. The affected versions of Solaris operate under a complex security model that includes multiple layers of protection, yet this vulnerability indicates a gap in the system's ability to properly validate or restrict local user activities. The attack surface likely encompasses various system components including kernel modules, system calls, or privileged processes that may not properly enforce access controls or validate input parameters. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes "Improper Input Validation" as a common weakness that can lead to availability impacts when local users can manipulate system resources through malformed inputs or improper privilege checks.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-5553 extends beyond simple system availability concerns to encompass potential data integrity breaches and service disruption across enterprise networks. Local users who exploit this vulnerability could cause system crashes, resource exhaustion, or other availability issues that would require system administrators to perform emergency maintenance or potentially reboot affected systems. Organizations running Solaris 10 and 11.3 systems face significant risk from this vulnerability, as it could be exploited by malicious insiders or compromised accounts to disrupt business operations. The attack vectors could potentially be leveraged to create persistent availability issues or to escalate privileges to root access, making this a critical concern for system administrators. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499, which covers "Endpoint Denial of Service" and demonstrates how local privilege escalation can be used to compromise system availability.
System administrators should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying Oracle's security patches and updates, conducting thorough vulnerability assessments of affected systems, and implementing network segmentation to limit local user access to critical systems. The vulnerability requires careful monitoring of system logs for unusual activity patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, as well as regular security audits to identify potential attack vectors. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as privilege escalation monitoring, system integrity checks, and enhanced logging to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of patches in non-production environments before deployment to ensure system stability and prevent unintended service disruptions. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing comprehensive security monitoring strategies to protect against local privilege escalation attacks that could compromise system availability and integrity.