CVE-2018-2611 in Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit (AK) component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: Core Services). The supported version that is affected is Prior to 8.7.13. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit (AK). While the vulnerability is in Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit (AK), attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit (AK). CVSS 3.0 Base Score 10.0 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/31/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2611 represents a critical security flaw within the Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit component of Oracle's Sun Systems Products Suite, specifically affecting the Core Services subcomponent. This vulnerability exists in versions prior to 8.7.13 and demonstrates a severe weakness that allows unauthenticated attackers to gain full control over affected systems. The flaw resides in the appliance's HTTP service handling, creating an avenue for malicious actors to exploit without requiring any authentication credentials or prior access privileges. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage this weakness with minimal technical sophistication, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where storage appliances serve as critical infrastructure components.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and authentication mechanisms within the HTTP interface of the ZFS Storage Appliance Kit. Attackers can exploit this weakness through network-based HTTP requests to execute arbitrary commands on the affected appliance, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability's CVSS 3.0 score of 10.0 reflects its severe impact across all three core security principles: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack vector requires only network access via HTTP, making it accessible from any location where the appliance is exposed to external networks. This vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-287 (Improper Authentication) and CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) as it allows unauthorized access and potentially resource exhaustion through command execution.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-2611 extends far beyond the immediate compromise of individual appliances, as successful exploitation can lead to widespread data breaches and system disruptions within enterprise storage environments. Organizations utilizing Sun ZFS Storage Appliances may experience complete loss of data integrity and availability, with potential for lateral movement attacks that could compromise additional systems within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability's score of 10.0 indicates that attackers can achieve complete system takeover without requiring user interaction or additional privileges, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) and T1071 (Application Layer Protocol). The affected systems may contain sensitive corporate data, making this vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to establish persistent access to enterprise storage networks.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches for versions prior to 8.7.13, implementing network segmentation to restrict access to these appliances, and monitoring network traffic for suspicious HTTP requests. Additional protective measures include disabling unnecessary HTTP services, implementing strict firewall rules, and conducting comprehensive vulnerability assessments of all storage appliance deployments. The vulnerability's severity and exploitability characteristics make it essential for security teams to prioritize remediation efforts, as the potential for data loss, system compromise, and regulatory compliance violations represents significant business risk. Organizations should also consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts and establish incident response procedures to address potential compromise scenarios.