CVE-2017-3498 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Solaris component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: Kernel). 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-2017-3498 resides within the Solaris kernel component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite, specifically affecting version 11.3. This represents a significant security weakness that operates at the operating system level, where the kernel serves as the core component managing system resources and providing essential services. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with minimal privileges can leverage this flaw to compromise the entire Solaris environment, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise settings where multiple users may have varying access levels. The CVSS 3.0 score of 3.3 reflects the relatively low complexity required to exploit this vulnerability, with a base score that emphasizes the confidentiality impact while maintaining minimal impact on integrity and availability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from weaknesses within the kernel's data handling mechanisms, allowing a low-privileged attacker who has already gained logon access to the Solaris infrastructure to perform unauthorized read operations on specific data subsets. This type of vulnerability typically involves improper access controls or insufficient validation of data access requests within kernel space, enabling attackers to bypass normal security boundaries that should protect sensitive system information. The attack vector requires local access to the system, meaning the attacker must already have some level of login capability, but once inside the environment, they can exploit this kernel-level flaw to access data that should normally be restricted. This aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues in system components, and represents a classic case of privilege escalation through kernel vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it can enable attackers to gather sensitive system information that may reveal system configurations, user data, or other confidential information stored within the Solaris environment. The unauthorized read access capability means that attackers could potentially extract passwords, system credentials, application data, or other sensitive information that could be used for further attacks or system compromise. Organizations running Solaris 11.3 systems are particularly at risk since this vulnerability could allow attackers to gather intelligence about the system's configuration, network setup, and potentially identify additional attack vectors. The fact that this vulnerability affects the kernel component means that any data accessible through kernel interfaces or system calls could potentially be compromised, making it a critical concern for security administrators.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-3498 should focus on immediate patch deployment from Oracle, as this represents a known vulnerability with available fixes in the form of security updates. Organizations should also implement additional access controls and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual read patterns or unauthorized access attempts on system data. Network segmentation and privilege minimization practices should be reinforced to limit the potential impact if an attacker does manage to exploit this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting kernel-level access control bypass methods. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any similar kernel-level vulnerabilities that may exist within the Solaris environment, as this type of flaw often indicates broader security weaknesses in the system's access control mechanisms that could be exploited in combination with other vulnerabilities.