CVE-2019-2860 in Clusterware
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle Clusterware component of Oracle Support Tools (subcomponent: Trace File Analyzer (TFA) Collector). The supported version that is affected is 12.1.0.2.0. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle Clusterware. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Clusterware accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Clusterware accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Clusterware. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.6 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/07/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2860 resides within Oracle Clusterware's Trace File Analyzer (TFA) Collector component, specifically affecting version 12.1.0.2.0 of the Oracle Support Tools suite. This represents a significant security weakness in Oracle's clustering infrastructure that impacts the foundational reliability and security of enterprise database environments. The TFA Collector serves as a diagnostic tool for collecting and analyzing trace files from Oracle Clusterware, making it a critical component for system monitoring and troubleshooting. The vulnerability's presence in this essential tool creates a potential attack vector that could compromise the entire clustered database environment.
This flaw manifests as a difficult-to-exploit vulnerability that permits unauthenticated attackers to gain network-level access to the affected Oracle Clusterware system through multiple protocols. The technical nature of the vulnerability allows for unauthorized modifications to data within the clusterware, including the ability to perform unauthorized update, insert, or delete operations against specific portions of accessible data. Additionally, attackers can achieve unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle Clusterware data, potentially exposing sensitive configuration information, user credentials, or system metadata. The vulnerability also enables attackers to cause partial denial of service conditions, disrupting cluster operations and potentially affecting database availability.
The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 5.6 reflects the moderate severity of this vulnerability, with scores of 5.6 for confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts. The attack vector is classified as network-based (AV:N) indicating that exploitation requires no physical access or user interaction, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments. The high attack complexity (AC:H) suggests that while the vulnerability exists, successful exploitation requires significant technical expertise and may involve multiple steps or specific conditions. The lack of required privileges (PR:N) means that attackers do not need to authenticate to the system, and the absence of user interaction (UI:N) indicates that the vulnerability can be exploited automatically. The unscoped (S:U) impact classification suggests that the vulnerability affects the target system without requiring additional compromise of other systems.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control in software systems, and represents a classic example of insufficient authorization checks in enterprise software components. The attack surface extends beyond simple data access to include potential system disruption through partial denial of service, which can severely impact business continuity in clustered database environments. Organizations using Oracle Clusterware are particularly vulnerable as this component often serves as the foundation for high availability database configurations, making the compromise of such systems potentially catastrophic for enterprise operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond immediate data compromise to include potential cascading effects throughout enterprise database infrastructure. The partial denial of service capability means that even a successful attack may not completely disable the system but could create partial outages or degraded performance that are difficult to diagnose and remediate. Organizations should implement immediate patching strategies to address this vulnerability, as well as network segmentation and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. Security teams should also review their access controls and network configurations to ensure that unnecessary network exposure to Oracle Clusterware components is minimized. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches for critical infrastructure components and demonstrates the potential for seemingly minor components like trace file collectors to become significant attack vectors in enterprise security architectures.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate deployment of Oracle's security patches and updates for the affected Oracle Clusterware version, along with network-level controls such as firewall rules to restrict access to Oracle Clusterware components from untrusted networks. Organizations should also implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized access attempts and maintain detailed audit logs of all activities related to Oracle Clusterware components. The implementation of principle of least privilege access controls and regular security assessments of Oracle database environments will help reduce the risk of successful exploitation. Additionally, security awareness training for database administrators and system operators should emphasize the importance of monitoring for unusual network activity related to Oracle Clusterware components, as this vulnerability could potentially be exploited as part of broader attack campaigns targeting enterprise database infrastructure.