CVE-2019-2813 in GraalVM Enterprise Edition
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition component of Oracle GraalVM (subcomponent: GraalVM). The supported version that is affected is 19.0.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. While the vulnerability is in Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.7 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/06/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2813 resides within Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition, specifically within its GraalVM subcomponent, representing a critical availability threat that affects version 19.0.0. This vulnerability demonstrates characteristics that align with CWE-400, which encompasses improper handling of system resources, particularly in scenarios involving resource exhaustion or denial of service conditions. The flaw manifests as an easily exploitable weakness that requires minimal privileges and can be initiated through network-based attacks utilizing multiple protocols, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where GraalVM is deployed for high-performance computing and application execution. The vulnerability's classification as low privilege accessible indicates that even users with limited system access could potentially leverage this flaw, expanding the attack surface significantly.
The technical nature of this vulnerability involves a flaw in how GraalVM processes certain inputs or operations, leading to a condition where malicious actors can induce system instability resulting in complete denial of service scenarios. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 7.7 reflects the high availability impact and the relatively low attack complexity required to exploit this weakness. The vulnerability's potential to cause repeated crashes or system hangs represents a direct threat to system uptime and operational continuity, particularly in mission-critical applications that rely on GraalVM for performance-intensive tasks. This type of vulnerability typically falls under ATT&CK technique T1499 which encompasses network denial of service attacks, and more specifically relates to the broader category of resource exhaustion attacks that target system stability and availability.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-2813 extends beyond just the immediate GraalVM environment, as noted in the vulnerability description, indicating that successful exploitation can affect additional Oracle products and systems within the enterprise ecosystem. This cascading effect demonstrates the interconnected nature of modern software architectures where vulnerabilities in foundational components can propagate through dependent systems. Organizations utilizing GraalVM for application deployment, containerization, or high-performance computing scenarios face significant risk of operational disruption, potentially leading to extended downtime and business impact. The complete denial of service condition means that affected systems could become entirely unresponsive, requiring manual intervention and system restarts to restore functionality, which represents a substantial operational burden for IT teams and system administrators.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems to the latest supported versions of Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition, as Oracle would have released security updates addressing this specific flaw. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit unnecessary network access to GraalVM instances, reducing the attack surface available to potential adversaries. Monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns or repeated crash events that might indicate exploitation attempts, while also implementing intrusion detection systems capable of identifying malicious network traffic patterns targeting this specific vulnerability. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all systems running affected versions of GraalVM and develop incident response procedures specifically tailored to address denial of service scenarios involving this type of resource exhaustion attack, ensuring rapid response capabilities to minimize business impact and system downtime.