CVE-2023-22129 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
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. Note: This vunlerability only affects SPARC Systems. 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 • 11/10/2023
This vulnerability exists within the kernel component of Oracle Solaris version 11 and represents a significant availability risk specifically targeting SPARC architecture systems. The flaw enables a low-privileged attacker who has already gained logon access to the underlying infrastructure to execute a complete denial of service attack that can cause system hangs or repeated crashes. The CVSS base score of 5.5 reflects the high availability impact with a vector indicating local access, low attack complexity, and low privileges required for exploitation. This vulnerability operates as a privilege escalation vector within the kernel space, where the attacker's existing login credentials provide sufficient access to manipulate kernel functions that control system stability and resource management.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of kernel resources or memory management within the Solaris kernel implementation specifically designed for SPARC processors. The attack surface is limited to systems running Oracle Solaris 11 on SPARC hardware, which represents a significant constraint but also indicates the vulnerability affects a specific and potentially critical enterprise environment. The kernel-level nature of the flaw means that exploitation does not require advanced technical skills or specialized tools beyond what an authenticated user with basic system access could potentially leverage. The vulnerability's design allows for repeated exploitation that can cause sustained system instability rather than a single transient crash, making it particularly dangerous for production environments where system uptime is critical.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple system crashes to potentially compromise business continuity and operational resilience in enterprise environments. Organizations running Oracle Solaris 11 on SPARC systems face the risk of unauthorized disruption to critical services and applications that depend on system stability. The vulnerability's availability impact score of high indicates that successful exploitation can result in complete system unavailability, which could affect database operations, middleware services, or other mission-critical applications running on these platforms. The local access requirement suggests that this vulnerability is most likely to be exploited by insider threats or attackers who have already established initial access through other means, making it particularly concerning for environments with limited access controls or compromised accounts.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Oracle security patches and updates that address the kernel vulnerability. System administrators should also consider implementing enhanced monitoring for unusual system behavior or kernel-level activity that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's specific targeting of SPARC systems means that organizations should conduct inventory assessments to identify all affected systems and prioritize patching efforts accordingly. Security teams should also review access controls and authentication mechanisms to reduce the risk of unauthorized local access that could enable exploitation. From a defensive perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068 for local privilege escalation and potentially T1499 for endpoint denial of service, making it relevant to both endpoint protection and incident response strategies. The vulnerability's classification under CWE categories related to kernel security and resource management provides additional context for understanding the underlying architectural weakness that enables exploitation.