CVE-2006-6916 in Direct Web Remoting
Summary
by MITRE
Getahead Direct Web Remoting (DWR) before 1.1.3 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via unknown vectors related to "crafted input."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/10/2015
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-6916 affects Getahead Direct Web Remoting DWR versions prior to 1.1.3, representing a significant security weakness that could be exploited to disrupt system availability. This issue falls under the category of denial of service attacks where malicious actors can manipulate the application to enter into infinite loop conditions, effectively consuming system resources and rendering the service unavailable to legitimate users. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the DWR framework, which processes remote method calls from web applications to server-side components.
The technical flaw manifests when the DWR component receives crafted input that triggers unexpected behavior in its processing logic. While the exact vectors remain unspecified in the original description, such vulnerabilities typically arise from insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data that flows through the application's request handling pipeline. The infinite loop occurs when the system's internal processing routines encounter malformed or specially constructed input that causes control flow to become trapped in repetitive execution patterns without proper termination conditions. This type of vulnerability directly maps to CWE-835, which specifically addresses the issue of infinite loops in software systems, and represents a classic example of how improper input handling can lead to resource exhaustion attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire application availability and reliability. When an infinite loop occurs within a web application framework, it consumes CPU cycles and memory resources continuously, leading to system degradation or complete unresponsiveness. Attackers can exploit this weakness by submitting carefully crafted requests that trigger the problematic code path, causing the server to become unresponsive to legitimate user requests. This vulnerability particularly affects web applications that rely heavily on DWR for asynchronous communication between client and server components, making it a critical concern for enterprise applications where continuous availability is paramount.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2006-6916 should prioritize immediate patching of affected DWR versions to 1.1.3 or later, which contains the necessary fixes to prevent the infinite loop conditions. Organizations should also implement robust input validation measures at multiple layers of their application architecture, including client-side sanitization and server-side validation of all user inputs. Network-level protections such as rate limiting and connection monitoring can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. Additionally, implementing proper error handling and timeout mechanisms within the application code can prevent the system from becoming trapped in infinite loops even if malformed input is somehow processed. The remediation approach aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which focuses on network denial of service attacks, and emphasizes the importance of defensive programming practices that prevent resource exhaustion vulnerabilities. Organizations should also consider implementing application firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts against this type of vulnerability.