CVE-2018-3172 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Solaris component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: RPC). Supported versions that are affected are 10 and 11.4. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via Portmap v3 to compromise Solaris. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Solaris. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.3 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L).
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-3172 resides within the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) subsystem of Oracle Solaris operating systems, specifically affecting versions 10 and 11.4. This issue manifests in the Portmap service which serves as a crucial component for RPC service discovery and mapping within the Solaris ecosystem. The vulnerability represents a significant security weakness that enables attackers to exploit the system without requiring authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where Solaris systems are exposed to external threats.
The technical flaw stems from improper input validation within the Portmap v3 service implementation. When processing incoming RPC requests, the system fails to adequately validate the structure and content of the received data packets, creating a potential for malformed input to trigger unexpected behavior. This weakness allows an unauthenticated attacker positioned on the network to send specially crafted RPC requests that can manipulate the Portmap service's internal state. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that the attack vector requires minimal technical expertise or resources to execute successfully, making it a prime target for automated exploitation tools.
From an operational impact perspective, successful exploitation of CVE-2018-3172 results in a partial denial of service condition affecting the Solaris system's availability. While the vulnerability does not provide direct access to system files or user data, it can severely disrupt normal system operations by compromising the RPC service infrastructure. The partial denial of service can manifest as reduced system responsiveness, inability to process legitimate RPC requests, or complete service unavailability for affected applications that depend on the Portmap service. This impact directly aligns with the CVSS 3.0 base score of 5.3, which emphasizes the availability impact category.
The security implications extend beyond simple service disruption as this vulnerability can serve as a stepping stone for more sophisticated attacks. According to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving service availability compromise and network service manipulation. The lack of authentication requirements and network accessibility makes it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to establish persistent access or conduct broader reconnaissance activities within compromised networks. Organizations running affected Solaris versions face increased risk of cascading failures if the Portmap service is critical to other system components or applications that depend on RPC communication.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patch deployment from Oracle, as this represents the most effective solution to address the root cause of the vulnerability. System administrators should also implement network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict access to Portmap service ports, particularly in environments where the service is not essential for legitimate operations. The vulnerability's characteristics align with CWE-129, which describes improper input validation issues, and organizations should consider implementing additional monitoring for unusual RPC traffic patterns. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any potential exploitation attempts and ensure that the mitigation measures remain effective against evolving threat landscapes.