CVE-2018-2930 in Solaris Cluster
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Solaris Cluster component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: NAS device addition). Supported versions that are affected are 3.3 and 4.3. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via RPC to compromise Solaris Cluster. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Solaris Cluster. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 9.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/18/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2930 resides within the Solaris Cluster component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite, specifically affecting the Network Attached Storage device addition functionality. This critical flaw manifests in versions 3.3 and 4.3 of the software, representing a significant security weakness that undermines the integrity and availability of enterprise cluster environments. The vulnerability operates at the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) layer, which serves as a fundamental communication mechanism for distributed systems, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited without requiring authentication credentials. The CVSS 3.0 score of 9.8 places this vulnerability in the critical severity category, indicating the potential for severe compromise of system resources and complete control over affected clusters.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and authentication mechanisms within the NAS device addition process. When administrators or systems attempt to add Network Attached Storage devices to a Solaris Cluster environment, the underlying RPC service fails to properly validate incoming requests, creating an attack surface that allows malicious actors to inject unauthorized commands. This weakness enables what is known as a remote code execution vulnerability, where an attacker can leverage the RPC interface to perform operations that should be restricted to authenticated administrators. The flaw specifically impacts the cluster management protocols that govern how storage resources are integrated into the distributed computing environment, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate cluster configuration data and gain elevated privileges.
From an operational standpoint, successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to complete takeover of the affected Solaris Cluster, resulting in catastrophic consequences for enterprise environments that depend on these systems for high availability and fault tolerance. The compromise can manifest as unauthorized data access, modification of cluster configuration parameters, or complete disruption of cluster services that may support critical business applications. Organizations utilizing Solaris Cluster for mission-critical workloads face significant risk, as the vulnerability can be exploited remotely without any prior authentication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network exposure is extensive. The confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts are all maximized, indicating that attackers can potentially read sensitive cluster data, modify configuration settings, and disrupt cluster operations simultaneously.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies including network segmentation to limit access to RPC ports, firewall rule configuration to restrict RPC communication to trusted networks only, and deployment of intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious RPC activity. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity) categories, reflecting fundamental flaws in access control mechanisms and data validation procedures. Organizations should also consider implementing the ATT&CK framework's T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) and T1068 (Exploitation for Privilege Escalation) techniques as indicators of potential compromise, as these attack patterns commonly accompany RPC-based vulnerabilities. Patch management protocols must be prioritized to ensure all affected systems receive updates, while network monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous RPC traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust network access controls for distributed computing environments that rely on RPC-based communication protocols.