CVE-2016-3643
Published: 17 June 2016
Summary
CVE-2016-3643 is a high-severity an unspecified weakness vulnerability in Solarwinds Virtualization Manager. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).
Deeper analysis
SolarWinds Virtualization Manager 6.3.1 and earlier contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability stemming from a sudo misconfiguration. The affected component permits local users to execute commands with elevated privileges, as illustrated by the ability to run "sudo cat /etc/passwd" without proper restrictions. This issue is tracked under CWE-264 and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Local authenticated users can exploit the misconfiguration to obtain root-level access on the system. By invoking permitted sudo commands that were not adequately restricted, an attacker can read sensitive files, modify system configurations, or execute arbitrary code with elevated rights, bypassing intended access controls.
Public exploit code and detailed disclosure reports for this issue are available through multiple sources including Packet Storm, Exploit-DB, and Full Disclosure mailing lists, confirming the practical nature of the attack. No official vendor advisory or patch information is referenced in the provided sources.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2016-4668
Vulnerability details
SolarWinds Virtualization Manager 6.3.1 and earlier allow local users to gain privileges by leveraging a misconfiguration of sudo, as demonstrated by "sudo cat /etc/passwd."
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 03 November 2021
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires that sudo privileges be limited to only the minimum commands needed, preventing the unrestricted sudo rights that enable the local escalation.
Enforces approved access policies on privileged operations so that sudo cannot be used to execute arbitrary commands such as cat /etc/passwd.
Mandates secure baseline configuration of security mechanisms including the sudoers file to eliminate the misconfiguration exploited by the CVE.