CVE-2022-21493 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 require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle Solaris, attacks may significantly impact additional products (scope change). 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 5.9 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/27/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-21493 represents a significant security flaw within the Oracle Solaris operating system kernel, specifically affecting version 11. This issue falls under the category of availability impact vulnerabilities as classified by the Common Weakness Enumeration framework, with a CVSS base score of 5.9 indicating a moderate to high risk level. The vulnerability's exploitability requires low privileged access and human interaction from an individual other than the attacker, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments where user access controls may be less stringent. The attack vector is classified as local access (AV:L) with low complexity (AC:L) and requires only low privileges (PR:L), suggesting that even users with minimal system access could potentially leverage this weakness.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies within the kernel component of Oracle Solaris, where an attacker with logon access can compromise the system's stability and availability. This weakness allows for unauthorized capabilities that can result in complete denial of service conditions, causing either system hangs or frequently repeatable crashes that effectively render the operating system non-functional. The scope change aspect of this vulnerability means that while the initial attack targets Oracle Solaris, the impact can extend to additional products within the affected environment, creating cascading effects that amplify the overall security risk. The CVSS vector indicates that while the attack requires human interaction (UI:R), the potential for complete system compromise through availability disruption makes this a critical concern for system administrators.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability presents substantial risk to organizations relying on Oracle Solaris for critical infrastructure operations. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or insider threat scenarios could be particularly dangerous, as attackers might manipulate legitimate users into performing actions that trigger the vulnerability. The complete denial of service capability means that successful exploitation could result in extended downtime, potentially affecting business continuity and service availability. Organizations must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability, as it could impact not only the Solaris systems themselves but also dependent applications and services that rely on stable operating system performance. The availability impact classification (A:H) indicates that this vulnerability can cause severe disruption to system operations, potentially requiring extensive recovery procedures and system restoration efforts.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-21493 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Oracle Solaris 11 systems through official Oracle security updates. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit user access privileges and reduce the attack surface. System monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on system stability metrics and crash reports. Security awareness training for users should emphasize the importance of not performing actions that could trigger system vulnerabilities, especially when prompted by suspicious requests or communications. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would likely fall within the privilege escalation and denial of service categories, making it essential for organizations to maintain comprehensive security monitoring and incident response capabilities. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in the broader IT infrastructure, ensuring that the attack surface remains minimized against both known and emerging threats.