CVE-2017-3564 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Solaris component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: RBAC). 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 require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Solaris, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Solaris. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 8.2 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/20/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3564 resides within the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) subsystem of Oracle Solaris 11.3, representing a critical security weakness that undermines the fundamental access control mechanisms designed to protect enterprise systems. This vulnerability operates at the operating system level and specifically targets the RBAC implementation that governs user permissions and privilege escalation within the Solaris environment. The flaw enables a low-privileged attacker who has already gained logon access to the Solaris infrastructure to potentially achieve complete system compromise, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users maintain varying levels of system access. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that the attack vector requires minimal technical sophistication, while the need for human interaction from individuals other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or operational missteps may be required to initiate the attack chain.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from weaknesses in the RBAC subsystem's privilege management and access control enforcement mechanisms within Solaris 11.3. This flaw allows an attacker to bypass normal access restrictions that should prevent unauthorized privilege escalation, potentially enabling them to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges or gain complete control over the target system. The CVSS 3.0 score of 8.2 reflects the high severity of impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, indicating that successful exploitation could result in complete system takeover. The attack vector (AV:L) suggests local access is required, while access complexity (AC:L) and privilege requirements (PR:L) indicate that an attacker with minimal privileges and low technical skill can exploit this vulnerability. The human interaction requirement (UI:R) implies that additional factors beyond pure technical exploitation may be necessary for successful compromise, potentially involving user actions or system misconfigurations that create the attack opportunity.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-3564 extends beyond the immediate Solaris environment to potentially affect other Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite components that rely on the RBAC framework for access control. This cascading effect means that exploitation of this vulnerability could result in broader system compromise across interconnected Oracle products and services, creating significant business continuity risks. Organizations running Solaris 11.3 systems face substantial risk of unauthorized access, data breaches, and system downtime, particularly in environments where the RBAC system is critical for maintaining security boundaries between different user roles and system functions. The vulnerability's potential to cause complete system takeover means that organizations may lose complete control over their Solaris infrastructure, potentially leading to data exfiltration, system corruption, or disruption of critical business operations. This risk is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where Solaris systems often host critical applications and sensitive data.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying Oracle's security patches and updates specifically addressing CVE-2017-3564, as well as implementing additional access control measures to reduce the attack surface. The mitigation strategy should include reviewing and tightening RBAC configurations, implementing least privilege access principles, and monitoring for suspicious access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider network segmentation to limit local access to Solaris systems and implement additional logging and monitoring capabilities to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification as a CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) type weakness in access control mechanisms indicates that organizations should review their overall access control policies and ensure proper implementation of the principle of least privilege. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access, making it essential for organizations to review their defensive measures against these specific attack patterns and ensure comprehensive monitoring across all system components that may be affected by RBAC bypass vulnerabilities.