CVE-2004-0945 in 3300 Integrated Communication Platform
Summary
by MITRE
The web management interface for Mitel 3300 Integrated Communications Platform (ICP) before 4.2.2.11 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (resource exhaustion) via a large number of active sessions, which exceeds ICP s maximum.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2017
The Mitel 3300 Integrated Communications Platform represents a comprehensive unified communications solution that serves as a central hub for voice, video, and data communications within enterprise environments. This system operates as a critical infrastructure component that manages multiple concurrent sessions and communication channels. The web management interface serves as the primary administrative portal for configuring and monitoring the platform's operations, making it a potential target for malicious actors seeking to disrupt services. The vulnerability in question affects versions prior to 4.2.2.11, indicating that this was a known issue that required a specific software update to address the underlying security flaw.
The technical flaw manifests as a resource exhaustion vulnerability that occurs when the web management interface processes a large number of active sessions beyond the platform's designed capacity. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of denial of service attacks where the system becomes overwhelmed by legitimate requests but cannot properly handle the load. The flaw specifically targets the session management mechanism within the web interface, where the platform fails to properly limit or handle concurrent session requests. When an authenticated user submits numerous active session requests, the system's resource allocation mechanisms become saturated, leading to complete service disruption. This vulnerability is particularly concerning as it requires only authenticated access, meaning that an attacker who has already gained legitimate credentials can exploit this weakness to cause system-wide outages.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire communication infrastructure that organizations rely upon for business continuity. When the management interface becomes unavailable due to resource exhaustion, administrators lose the ability to monitor, configure, or troubleshoot the system remotely. This creates a cascading effect where the platform may become unresponsive to legitimate user requests, resulting in communication failures across the entire organization. The vulnerability affects not just the management interface but also impacts the underlying communication services as the system struggles to maintain its operational capacity. Organizations using affected versions of the Mitel 3300 ICP may experience complete service outages that can last until the system is manually restarted or the software is patched, potentially causing significant business disruption.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary recommendation is to upgrade to Mitel 4.2.2.11 or later versions that contain the necessary patches to address the session management flaw. Organizations should also implement session limiting mechanisms within their network infrastructure to prevent any single authenticated user from creating an excessive number of concurrent sessions. Network segmentation and access controls can help limit the scope of potential exploitation by ensuring that only authorized personnel have access to the management interface. Additionally, implementing monitoring solutions that can detect unusual session activity patterns will provide early warning of potential exploitation attempts. From a security framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-400 which addresses unspecified resource exhaustion, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other network infrastructure components that may present similar attack vectors.