CVE-2007-0916 in HP-UX
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Address and Routing Parameter Area (ARPA) transport functionality in HP-UX B.11.11 and B.11.23 allows local users to cause an unspecified denial of service via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/29/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0916 represents a critical weakness within the Address and Routing Parameter Area transport functionality of HP-UX operating systems versions B.11.11 and B.11.23. This issue resides within the core networking infrastructure of these unix-based systems, specifically affecting the ARPA transport layer that handles network communication protocols. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability indicates that the exact technical flaw remains undisclosed, which is common in older security advisories where detailed technical information was not fully documented at the time of discovery. The vulnerability specifically targets local users, meaning that exploitation requires access to the system itself rather than remote network-based attacks, making it particularly concerning for environments where privileged access might be compromised.
The technical flaw exists within the transport functionality of the ARPA layer, which is responsible for managing network addressing and routing parameters essential for system communication. This area of the operating system handles critical network operations that facilitate data transmission between system components and external networks. The vulnerability manifests as an unspecified denial of service condition, which means that successful exploitation results in the system becoming unavailable or unresponsive to legitimate network requests. The impact occurs through unknown vectors, suggesting that the attack mechanism could involve various system resources such as memory corruption, process termination, or network stack manipulation that leads to system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it affects the fundamental networking capabilities of affected HP-UX systems. When a local user successfully exploits this vulnerability, the system may experience complete network unavailability, preventing legitimate users and applications from accessing network resources. This type of denial of service can have cascading effects throughout enterprise environments where HP-UX systems serve as critical infrastructure components. The vulnerability's presence in both B.11.11 and B.11.23 versions indicates it was a persistent issue across multiple releases of the operating system, suggesting that the underlying flaw was not properly addressed in the development lifecycle. From an attacker perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-impact vector since local access is sufficient for exploitation, making it particularly dangerous in environments where privilege escalation is possible.
Security practitioners should consider this vulnerability in the context of the CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) framework, where such issues typically map to weaknesses related to resource management and system stability. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-119 which addresses weaknesses in memory management and resource handling, and CWE-400 which covers unspecified denial of service conditions. Additionally, from the ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability would be classified under privilege escalation and denial of service tactics, potentially enabling attackers to move laterally within a network if they can gain local access. The mitigation strategy should focus on applying appropriate security patches from HP, implementing strict access controls to prevent unauthorized local access, and monitoring system behavior for signs of exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider network segmentation and privilege separation to limit the potential impact of local privilege escalation attacks that could leverage this vulnerability.