CVE-2017-3565 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 unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Solaris accessible data as well as unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Solaris accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.9 (Confidentiality and Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/20/2020
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-3565 represents a significant security flaw within the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) subsystem of Oracle Solaris 11.3 operating system. This issue resides within the core privilege management framework that governs user permissions and access controls, making it particularly dangerous as it directly impacts the fundamental security model of the operating system. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with minimal technical skills and legitimate access to the system can leverage this weakness to escalate their privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive system resources. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.9 reflects the high severity of this flaw, with a base score that considers the low attack complexity, low privileges required, and the potential for significant impact on both confidentiality and integrity of system data.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from weaknesses in the RBAC implementation that allows unauthorized privilege escalation through carefully crafted administrative operations. Specifically, the flaw enables low-privileged users who already have logon access to the Solaris system to potentially manipulate the access control mechanisms and gain elevated privileges that should be restricted to authorized administrators only. This type of vulnerability typically involves improper validation of user permissions, insufficient access control checks during administrative operations, or flawed privilege management logic that fails to properly enforce the principle of least privilege. The requirement for human interaction from someone other than the attacker suggests that the exploitation may involve social engineering elements or require specific system configurations that must be manipulated by an insider or someone with legitimate access to trigger the vulnerability effectively.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized modification, deletion, or creation of critical system data across all Solaris accessible resources. The potential for complete access to all Solaris accessible data represents a severe threat to system integrity and data confidentiality, as attackers could potentially modify system configurations, access sensitive user information, or corrupt critical system files. The fact that this vulnerability can affect additional products indicates that the compromised Solaris system may serve as a foothold for attacks on interconnected systems or that the vulnerability affects shared resources that other products depend upon. The CVSS vector indicates that while the attack requires local access and some human interaction, the potential for significant impact makes this a critical vulnerability that organizations must address immediately.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Oracle security patches and updates that address the RBAC vulnerability, conducting thorough security assessments of their Solaris environments, and implementing additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. The vulnerability's classification under CWE categories related to access control and privilege management highlights the need for robust security controls that go beyond basic patch management. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and could be leveraged by attackers to move laterally within networks or maintain persistent access to compromised systems. Additional defensive measures should include regular access control reviews, implementation of principle of least privilege enforcement, and enhanced logging and monitoring of administrative operations to detect potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider network segmentation and additional perimeter controls to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation, as the vulnerability's low privilege requirements and easy exploitability make it particularly attractive to attackers seeking to compromise critical system resources.