CVE-2022-21463 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE • 04/20/2022
Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris product of Oracle Systems (component: Kernel). 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 of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle Solaris. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/27/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-21463 resides within the kernel component of Oracle Solaris version 11, representing a significant security weakness that can be exploited by attackers with minimal privileges. This flaw falls under the category of availability-focused threats, with a CVSS base score of 5.5 indicating a moderate severity level that can result in complete denial of service conditions. The vulnerability's accessibility is particularly concerning as it requires only a low-privileged attacker with logon access to the target system, making it an attractive target for malicious actors who have gained initial foothold within the environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of certain kernel operations that can lead to system instability when exploited. As a kernel-level flaw, it operates at the core of the operating system's functionality, where any erroneous behavior can cascade into complete system failure. The vulnerability's characteristics indicate that successful exploitation can result in either system hangs or repeated crashes that effectively render the affected Oracle Solaris systems unusable, creating a persistent availability disruption that can severely impact business operations and service continuity. This type of vulnerability typically involves memory management issues or improper resource handling within kernel space that can be manipulated through specific input sequences or system calls.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to organizations relying on Oracle Solaris for critical infrastructure services. The ability to achieve a complete denial of service condition means that systems running affected versions can be rendered completely non-functional, potentially causing widespread disruption across enterprise environments. The low privilege requirement and local access vector make this particularly dangerous in scenarios where attackers have already gained initial access through other means, as they can escalate their impact by leveraging this vulnerability to create persistent system outages. Organizations may experience significant downtime, loss of productivity, and potential data availability issues when such vulnerabilities are successfully exploited in production environments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-21463 should prioritize immediate patch deployment from Oracle, as this represents the most effective defense against exploitation. System administrators should implement comprehensive monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing kernel-level denial of service attacks. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-119 indicates improper access to memory or resource handling issues that require careful system hardening practices including restricting local access privileges and implementing robust access controls. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and privilege separation measures to limit the potential impact of local exploitation attempts, while maintaining regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities within their Oracle Solaris environments. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this vulnerability under the T1499.004 technique for Network Denial of Service, emphasizing the importance of maintaining system availability and implementing proper kernel-level protections against unauthorized modifications that could lead to system instability.