CVE-2018-2560 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. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows high 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 access to critical data or complete access to all Solaris accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.0 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/31/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2560 resides within the Solaris kernel component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite, specifically affecting version 11.3 of the operating system. This represents a significant security flaw that operates at the core level of the system's kernel, where the fundamental operating system functions are managed. The vulnerability's classification as a kernel-level issue means it operates at the most privileged level of the operating system, potentially allowing attackers to gain deep system access. The CVSS 3.0 base score of 5.0 indicates a medium severity threat, though the confidentiality impact is rated as high, suggesting that successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive system data.
The technical nature of this vulnerability requires a high-privileged attacker who already has logon access to the Solaris infrastructure, indicating that the attack vector involves an attacker who has already established some level of system presence. However, the requirement for human interaction from someone other than the attacker suggests that this vulnerability may involve social engineering elements or require specific user actions to be successfully exploited. The complexity of exploitation is classified as high, which means that while it's not trivial to exploit, it's not impossible for determined attackers with sufficient resources and knowledge. The attack requires the attacker to be in a privileged position within the system, but the fact that it can impact additional products suggests that the vulnerability may have cascading effects beyond the immediate Solaris environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, as successful exploitation could result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Solaris accessible data. This represents a significant threat to data confidentiality and could potentially allow attackers to access sensitive system information, user credentials, or proprietary data stored within the Solaris environment. The CVSS vector indicates that while the attack requires human interaction, the potential damage is substantial, with the confidentiality impact rated as high and no impact on integrity or availability. The vulnerability's potential to affect additional products beyond Solaris indicates that it may have broader implications for the entire system ecosystem, potentially affecting interconnected services or applications that rely on the Solaris infrastructure.
From a security framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and may relate to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access. The requirement for high privileged access and the need for human interaction suggests that this vulnerability could be exploited through techniques such as spear-phishing or social engineering to manipulate users into performing actions that facilitate the attack. Organizations should consider implementing additional monitoring and access controls to detect unusual system behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond immediate system boundaries, making it essential for security teams to assess the entire infrastructure for potential cascading effects and ensure proper segmentation and access controls are in place.
Mitigation strategies should focus on reducing the attack surface and implementing additional security controls within the Solaris environment. Regular system updates and patches should be prioritized, as Oracle would have likely released fixes for this vulnerability. Network segmentation and access control measures should be enhanced to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. Security monitoring should be strengthened to detect anomalous behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation of this vulnerability. Organizations should also conduct regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across their entire system infrastructure, given the potential for cascading effects beyond the immediate Solaris environment. The human interaction requirement suggests that user awareness training should be emphasized to reduce the risk of successful social engineering attacks that might exploit this vulnerability.