CVE-2001-0604 in Domino
Summary
by MITRE
Lotus Domino R5 prior to 5.0.7 allows a remote attacker to create a denial of service via URL requests (>8Kb) containing a large number of / characters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/26/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2001-0604 affects IBM Lotus Domino R5 versions prior to 5.0.7, representing a significant denial of service flaw that can be exploited remotely through carefully crafted URL requests. This vulnerability specifically targets the web server component of Lotus Domino, which serves as a critical communication platform for enterprise email and collaboration services. The flaw manifests when the server processes URL requests containing more than 8KB of data with an excessive number of forward slash characters, leading to system resource exhaustion and service disruption. The vulnerability falls under the category of improper input validation, where the server fails to adequately sanitize or limit the length and complexity of incoming URL parameters, creating a pathway for malicious actors to overwhelm the system's processing capabilities.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the server's handling of URL parsing and path resolution mechanisms. When a malformed URL with excessive forward slashes is submitted, the Domino web server begins an inefficient processing cycle that consumes disproportionate amounts of memory and CPU resources. This occurs because the server attempts to resolve and validate each forward slash character in the path, creating a cascade of processing operations that can quickly exhaust available system resources. The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics of a resource exhaustion attack pattern, where the attacker leverages the server's normal processing behavior to create an abnormal resource consumption state that ultimately results in service unavailability. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires minimal privileges and can be executed from any remote location with access to the Domino web server.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the availability of critical enterprise communication infrastructure. Organizations relying on Lotus Domino for email services, collaboration platforms, and business applications face significant risk when affected by this vulnerability, as the denial of service can render entire email systems inaccessible to legitimate users. The vulnerability affects systems that may be processing legitimate traffic alongside malicious requests, making detection and mitigation challenging. Attackers can exploit this flaw to target specific organizations or conduct broader distributed denial of service campaigns against multiple Domino servers. The impact is particularly severe in enterprise environments where Domino servers often serve as central communication hubs for business operations, making the availability of these systems critical to organizational continuity and productivity.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2001-0604 should focus on both immediate patching and operational controls to protect against exploitation. The primary solution involves upgrading to Lotus Domino R5 5.0.7 or later versions, which include fixes for the URL parsing vulnerability. Organizations should implement network-level controls such as URL filtering and rate limiting to prevent excessive URL requests from reaching the server. Additionally, configuring the Domino server to enforce stricter limits on URL length and character complexity can help reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability's characteristics align with attack patterns documented in the ATT&CK framework under the denial of service category, specifically targeting the availability of network services. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malicious URL patterns. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and implementing proper vulnerability management processes, as outlined in industry standards such as those referenced in CWE-400 for resource exhaustion vulnerabilities. Organizations should conduct regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar input validation flaws that could potentially lead to more severe exploitation vectors.