CVE-2006-4682 in Director
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in IBM Director before 5.10 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via unspecified vectors involving (1) malformed WMI CIM server requests and (2) malformed packets.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/03/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-4682 affects IBM Director software versions prior to 5.10, representing a significant security weakness that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks. This issue manifests through two distinct attack vectors that exploit weaknesses in the software's handling of network communications and system requests. The affected IBM Director software serves as a systems management tool that facilitates remote monitoring and management of enterprise infrastructure, making it a critical component in corporate IT environments where availability and stability are paramount.
The first vulnerability vector involves malformed WMI CIM server requests that can cause the IBM Director application to crash or become unresponsive. WMI CIM (Common Information Model) is a core component of Windows management infrastructure that provides standardized access to system information and management capabilities. When IBM Director processes these malformed requests, the application fails to properly validate input parameters and handle unexpected data structures, leading to memory corruption or resource exhaustion that results in application termination. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-122, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read errors that can occur when processing malformed input data.
The second attack vector targets malformed packets that can trigger similar denial of service conditions within the IBM Director application. These packets may contain unexpected data formats, malformed headers, or corrupted payload structures that the application's network processing components cannot properly handle. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and error handling mechanisms within the software's network stack, allowing attackers to send carefully crafted packets that cause the application to enter an unstable state or terminate unexpectedly. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which describes network denial of service attacks targeting application layer protocols.
The operational impact of CVE-2006-4682 extends beyond simple service interruption, as IBM Director serves as a critical management tool in enterprise environments where system monitoring and remote administration capabilities are essential. When the application crashes due to these vulnerabilities, it can result in complete loss of visibility into managed systems, disruption of automated monitoring processes, and potential cascading failures in dependent services. Organizations relying on IBM Director for system management may experience significant operational downtime, increased administrative overhead, and potential security gaps during the periods when the application is unavailable.
The vulnerability landscape for this issue demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and error handling in network-facing applications. IBM Director's failure to adequately sanitize incoming WMI CIM requests and network packets creates opportunities for attackers to exploit these weaknesses without requiring authentication or elevated privileges. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where the software is accessible from untrusted networks or where attackers can potentially inject malicious traffic into the management network. Mitigation strategies should include immediate deployment of IBM Director version 5.10 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address these vulnerabilities, along with network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic. Additionally, organizations should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual application behavior or crash patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, and consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify malformed WMI CIM requests and other suspicious network traffic patterns.