CVE-2021-35549 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE • 10/20/2021
Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris product of Oracle Systems (component: Utility). The supported version that is affected is 11. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle Solaris executes to compromise Oracle Solaris. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Solaris accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Solaris. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 3.9 (Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/27/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-35549 represents a significant security weakness within Oracle Solaris 11 operating system, specifically within its utility component. This flaw exists in the core system utilities that manage various administrative functions and system operations. The vulnerability falls under the category of software flaws that can be exploited by attackers with minimal privileges but requires specific conditions for successful exploitation. The affected component is classified as a utility within the Oracle Solaris ecosystem, which typically handles system maintenance, configuration, and administrative tasks that are critical to system operation and security posture.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and validation mechanisms within the affected utility functions. Attackers with low-privileged access to the Solaris system can potentially manipulate the utility processes to perform unauthorized operations against system data. The vulnerability requires human interaction from someone other than the attacker, indicating that the exploitation process likely involves social engineering or user deception tactics. This human interaction requirement suggests that the attack vector may involve tricking a legitimate user into performing specific actions that trigger the vulnerability, or that the utility requires user consent for certain operations. The flaw resides in the utility component's handling of data modification operations and system resource access, creating pathways for unauthorized data manipulation and service disruption.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data integrity concerns to include availability risks and potential service degradation. Successful exploitation can result in unauthorized modification of system data through update, insert, or delete operations against accessible data stores. This data manipulation capability can compromise the integrity of system configurations, user information, or critical system files that maintain the operating system's functionality. The partial denial of service aspect indicates that while complete system shutdown may not occur, certain services or system components could become unavailable or operate in a degraded state, affecting system reliability and user access. The CVSS score of 3.9 reflects the moderate severity of this vulnerability, with impacts rated as low for integrity and availability, though the combination of these factors creates a meaningful security risk that can be leveraged by determined attackers.
Security professionals should approach mitigation of this vulnerability through multiple defensive layers that align with established security frameworks and best practices. The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-310 (Cryptographic Issues) categories, emphasizing the need for robust access control mechanisms and proper input validation. Organizations should implement the principle of least privilege for all system users and ensure that utility components are properly configured with appropriate access controls. Regular patch management processes must be prioritized to address this vulnerability and similar issues in the Oracle Solaris environment. The mitigation strategy should include monitoring for unauthorized system modifications and implementing user behavior analytics to detect potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, system administrators should review and validate all utility configurations to ensure that unnecessary access permissions are not granted, reducing the attack surface available to potential adversaries. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would likely map to privilege escalation and defense evasion techniques, requiring comprehensive monitoring and detection capabilities to identify and respond to potential exploitation attempts.