Ousted HP CEO Mark Hurd is reportedly in talks with Oracle to assume a senior-level management position within the company. The talks are hush-hush right now, with no named sources coming forward to identify exactly what position Hurd might take up at the enterprise software company.

It's doubtful he'd ascend to the top-spot of CEO—currently, and only, held by Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Anonymous sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal cautioned that Hurd's potential switch isn't finalized by any means, and that the company's board of directors would still need to approve any potential appointment.

Nevertheless, this wouldn't be the first time that Oracle—or at least, those representing it—would have come to Hurd's defense. Ellison himself blasted HP's board of directors during the process of Hurd's removal, a unanimous decision by HP's board, claiming that the company wasn't acting in the best interests of those it represents by "desperately grasping at straws" throughout the process.

"The H-P Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago," Ellison wrote. "H-P had a long list of failed CEOs until they hired Mark who has spent the last five years doing a brilliant job reviving H-P to its former greatness."

Hurd's nearly doubled HP's stock price during his nearly five-year tenure at the company. His unexpected departure came in the wake of sexual harassment allegations by marketing consultant Jodie Fischer, who was employed by HP to work at various corporate marketing events the company threw. While the relationship between the two remained non-sexual, Fischer has declined to elaborate on the details of her allegations throughout any of the interviews she's conducted.

While HP's board did not find Hurd to be in violation of the company's sexual harassment policy, the investigation revealed irregularities surrounding the expense reports Hurd would submit related his dinners with Fischer. Although Hurd offered to pay back the misreported amounts out of his own pocket, and pursued a separate settlement with Fischer, the board nevertheless asked for his resignation.

Hurd resigned in early August, and his total takeaway—including severance and stock options—numbered anywhere from $40 to $50 million. The financial damage to HP could be far more significant in the long-term. After all, Oracle and HP are growing in each other sights as a result of the former's acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January, which allowed Oracle to push right into the storage and server market.

For Ellison, the ability to tap into the knowledge and expertise of HP's former CEO—as well, one of his,"close friends"--would be quite an asset.