CVE-2003-0622 in Tuxedo
Summary
by MITRE
The Administration Console for BEA Tuxedo 8.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (hang) via pathname arguments that contain MS-DOS device names such as CON and AUX.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2003-0622 affects the Administration Console component of BEA Tuxedo 8.1 and earlier versions, representing a significant security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks. This issue stems from the console's inadequate handling of pathname arguments that contain Microsoft DOS device names such as CON and AUX, which are legacy artifacts from the ms-dos operating system era. These device names were originally intended for specific hardware devices and are typically rejected by modern operating systems to prevent security issues, but the flawed implementation in BEA Tuxedo's administration console fails to properly sanitize or validate such inputs.
The technical flaw manifests when the administration console processes user-supplied pathname arguments containing these special device names, causing the system to enter an unpredictable state where it hangs or becomes unresponsive. This occurs because the console's input processing logic does not properly handle these reserved names, leading to resource exhaustion or deadlock conditions within the application's file handling mechanisms. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it operates at the input validation layer, where improper sanitization allows malicious inputs to propagate through the system without proper filtering or error handling, creating a pathway for attackers to disrupt normal service operations.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability represents a critical threat to system availability and business continuity, as remote attackers can easily exploit it to cause service interruptions without requiring any authentication or privileged access. The denial of service condition affects the administration console itself, preventing authorized administrators from accessing critical management functions during an attack, which can compound the operational impact by limiting the ability to respond to or recover from the incident. The vulnerability also demonstrates poor input validation practices that could potentially be leveraged in broader attack scenarios, particularly when combined with other weaknesses in the system architecture.
The flaw aligns with CWE-20, which specifically addresses improper input validation, and represents a classic example of how legacy system components can introduce security vulnerabilities when integrated into modern applications. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability maps to the attack pattern described in MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1499, which covers network denial of service attacks, and T1566, which covers spearphishing with social engineering. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation patches, disabling unnecessary console access, and network segmentation to limit the attack surface. Additionally, the vulnerability underscores the importance of following secure coding practices and conducting thorough security testing of legacy components before deployment, particularly in enterprise environments where system availability is paramount for business operations.