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SolarisOperating system · Oracle

CVE-2020-14537

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
55/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris product of Oracle Systems (component: Packaging Scripts). The supported version that is affected is 11. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high 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. 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 5.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H).

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

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Oracle Solaris 11's Packaging Scripts component. Allows a high-privileged attacker with system logon access to cause a denial of service (hang or crash) of the Solaris system. Requires human interaction from a non-attacker person and can impact additional products beyond the vulnerable component due to scope change.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update or vendor-provided patch for CVE-2020-14537. Restrict high-privilege access to Solaris systems and monitor for unusual packaging script execution.

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:= 11

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

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. Confirm Oracle Solaris 11 is installed
    Run 'uname -a' or check /etc/release to identify the operating system and version
    Affected if The system is running Oracle Solaris version 11.x (any subversion)
  2. Verify the Packaging Scripts component is present
    Check if the packaging/scripting infrastructure (pkg commands, package repositories) is configured on the system
    Affected if Packaging Scripts are available and accessible on the system
  3. Identify high-privilege account access
    Review which non-root accounts have elevated privileges using 'roles', 'prof_attr', or 'getent' commands
    Affected if Multiple high-privileged accounts exist beyond the attacker, enabling the required human interaction element
  4. Audit recent packaging script executions
    Review system logs (including /var/log/messages, audit logs if enabled) for unusual pkgadd, pkgrm, or pkg command invocations
    Affected if Packaging script executions are logged and accessible to the attacker for manipulation
  5. Check for system stability indicators
    Monitor for any history of system hangs or unexpected reboots that may indicate DoS from this vulnerability
    Affected if The system has experienced unexplained hangs or crashes previously

A user is affected if running Oracle Solaris 11 with the Packaging Scripts component and allowing high-privileged access that could involve human interaction.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Oracle Critical Patch Update or vendor-provided patch for CVE-2020-14537. Restrict high-privilege access to Solaris systems and monitor for unusual packaging script execution.

Fix this in Solaris Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2020-14537 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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