CVE-2005-0224 in VirtualVault
Summary
by MITRE
Unknown vulnerability in HP-UX B.11.04 running Virtualvault 4.5 through 4.7, when running the TGA daemon, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via certain network traffic.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/06/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-0224 represents a critical denial of service weakness within HP-UX B.11.04 operating system environments that utilize Virtualvault 4.5 through 4.7 software components. This issue specifically manifests when the TGA daemon process is actively running, creating a pathway for remote attackers to disrupt system availability through carefully crafted network communications. The vulnerability resides within the network processing logic of the TGA daemon, which fails to properly validate incoming traffic patterns, allowing malicious actors to exploit malformed or unexpected network packets to trigger system instability.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the TGA daemon's network handling routines, where the daemon does not sufficiently sanitize or verify network traffic before processing. This weakness creates a condition where specially constructed network packets can cause the daemon to enter an undefined state or crash entirely, resulting in complete service disruption. The vulnerability operates at the transport layer of network communications, exploiting the daemon's failure to implement proper error handling for malformed packets. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input boundaries, and specifically demonstrates how insufficient network protocol validation can lead to system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can compromise the overall security posture of systems running affected HP-UX configurations. When the TGA daemon crashes due to malicious network traffic, it can potentially affect other services dependent on the Virtualvault framework, creating cascading failures that impact business continuity. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this weakness from anywhere on the network, without requiring local system access or credentials. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where HP-UX systems are deployed for security infrastructure purposes, as the disruption can impact critical security monitoring and data protection functions. The attack vector follows patterns consistent with ATT&CK technique T1498, which involves network denial of service attacks targeting system availability.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems with available HP-UX security updates specifically addressing the TGA daemon's network processing flaws. System administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of affected systems to untrusted networks, while also deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious network traffic patterns. The implementation of network filtering rules that restrict traffic to the TGA daemon's ports can provide additional protective layers. Organizations should also consider disabling the TGA daemon service entirely if it is not mission-critical, as this eliminates the attack surface entirely. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any other potentially affected components within the Virtualvault framework, as similar weaknesses may exist in other daemon processes. The remediation approach should align with industry best practices for vulnerability management and system hardening as outlined in NIST SP 800-125 and ISO 27001 frameworks.