dbcve.org
SolarisOperating system · Sun

CVE-2003-0722

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-09-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The default installation of sadmind on Solaris uses weak authentication (AUTH_SYS), which allows local and remote attackers to spoof Solstice AdminSuite clients and gain root privileges via a certain sequence of RPC packets.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The sadmind daemon on Solaris, used for Solstice AdminSuite remote administration, uses weak AUTH_SYS authentication by default. Attackers can craft malicious RPC packets to spoof legitimate admin clients and execute commands with root privileges on the target system.

MitigationDisable the sadmind service if not required, or restrict access via firewall rules. If needed, implement stronger authentication mechanisms and apply vendor patches for this vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
SolarisOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify if sadmind daemon is running
    Run 'ps -ef | grep sadmind' or 'rpcinfo -p | grep sadmind' to check if the sadmind service is active on the system
    Affected if The sadmind process appears in the process list or RPC services, indicating the vulnerable service is enabled
  2. Check sadmind configuration for authentication settings
    Examine the sadmind configuration file typically located at /etc/sadminkp.conf or /etc/default/sadmind for authentication parameters
    Affected if AUTH_SYS (weak authentication) is configured as the default or only authentication method
  3. Verify RPC service registration
    Run 'rpcinfo -s | grep -i sadmind' to confirm sadmind is registered as an RPC service on port 111
    Affected if The sadmind RPC service is registered and accessible, making it exploitable over the network
  4. Check network exposure of RPC services
    Review firewall rules or run 'netstat -an | grep 111' to determine if port 111 (sunrpc) is exposed to untrusted networks
    Affected if The RPC portmapper and sadmind service are reachable from untrusted network segments
  5. Confirm Solstice AdminSuite installation
    Check for the presence of Solstice AdminSuite components via 'pkginfo | grep -i sunw' or by locating /usr/sbin/sadmind binary
    Affected if The sadmind binary exists and the Solstice AdminSuite is installed on the system

The system is affected if the sadmind daemon is running with AUTH_SYS authentication enabled and is accessible over the network, allowing remote attackers to spoof RPC calls and execute commands as root.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable the sadmind service if not required, or restrict access via firewall rules. If needed, implement stronger authentication mechanisms and apply vendor patches for this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Oracle Solaris 10 or 11, depending on deployment timeline and compatibility requirements

  1. Disable the sadmind daemon if not needed: svcadm disable svc:/network/rpc/sadmind:default
  2. If sadmind is required, restrict access by configuring RPC firewalling or TCP wrappers to limit which hosts can connect to port 111
  3. Apply Sun patches for this vulnerability - check SunSolve for patches 112963-05, 114361-03, or subsequent patches
  4. Consider upgrading to a modern Solaris/Oracle Solaris version that has this vulnerability addressed
  5. Verify the configuration after applying changes
Caveat Disabling sadmind will break Solstice AdminSuite remote administration functionality; test thoroughly in non-production first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Solaris Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0722 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-0722 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data