CVE-2017-3474 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Solaris component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: Zone). The supported version that is affected is 11.3. Easily "exploitable" vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Solaris executes to compromise Solaris. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized read access to a subset of Solaris accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 3.3 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/20/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3474 resides within the Solaris operating system's zone subsystem, representing a significant security weakness in Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite. This flaw specifically targets the zone management functionality that governs virtualized environments within Solaris, where multiple isolated user spaces operate on a single system instance. The affected version 11.3 demonstrates a critical design oversight that fundamentally compromises the security boundaries intended to separate different zones, creating a pathway for privilege escalation attacks. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with minimal privileges can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to system resources, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where multiple users share the same infrastructure.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and privilege validation mechanisms within the zone subsystem. Attackers with basic login credentials can exploit this weakness to bypass the normal isolation protocols that should prevent one zone from accessing another zone's data or resources. The flaw essentially allows a low-privileged user to perform unauthorized read operations against sensitive data within the Solaris environment, potentially exposing confidential information stored in other zones. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and compartmentalization that security architectures rely upon for protection. The vulnerability's CVSS score of 3.3 reflects the moderate impact on confidentiality while maintaining low complexity and attack vector requirements, making it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to extract sensitive data without requiring sophisticated exploitation techniques.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-3474 extends far beyond simple data exposure, as it fundamentally undermines the security model of Solaris virtualization environments. Organizations running multiple zones on a single Solaris instance face significant risk of data leakage and potential system compromise when this vulnerability exists. The attack vector requires only local access to the system, meaning that even users with limited privileges can exploit this weakness to access data they should not normally be able to read. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1070.004 for indicator removal and T1005 for data from local system. The compromised confidentiality impacts can range from exposure of sensitive user data to potential disclosure of system configuration information that could aid in further attacks against the broader infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate patching requirements and long-term architectural improvements to strengthen zone isolation. Oracle released patches specifically targeting this vulnerability in their security updates, requiring system administrators to apply the appropriate patches to affected Solaris 11.3 installations. Organizations should implement strict access controls and monitoring of zone activities to detect potential exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and additional authentication mechanisms can help limit the impact of successful attacks. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches and implementing comprehensive monitoring solutions that can detect unauthorized access attempts. Security teams should also conduct regular vulnerability assessments focusing on virtualization components and ensure that zone configurations follow security best practices. The remediation process requires careful planning to avoid disrupting legitimate system operations while ensuring that all affected zones receive proper protection against this specific privilege escalation threat.