Actively exploited vulnerability
Oracle Solaris: privilege escalation flaw under attack
CVE-2019-3010 · Oracle Solaris Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
What is affected
Oracle Solaris is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.
Oracle Solaris component: XScreenSaver contains an unspecified vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation.
What an attacker can do
This is a privilege escalation flaw. It lets an attacker turn limited access into full administrator control. Attackers pair it with another flaw or a malicious file: once anything of theirs runs on the device, this bug lets it take over completely.
- How it is reached
- Needs access to the device or a file opened on it
- Access the attacker needs
- A basic user account
- Does the victim have to do something?
- No, works without the victim doing anything
What to do
- At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
- If you administer Oracle Solaris at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
- If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
How urgent is it
CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on May 25, 2022, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by June 15, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.
The EPSS model estimates a 13% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 96% of all scored vulnerabilities.
Its CVSS severity score is 8.8 out of 10 (high), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.
Technical description
Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris product of Oracle Systems (component: XScreenSaver). 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. While the vulnerability is in Oracle Solaris, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle Solaris. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 8.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).