CVE-2007-3615 in Web Application Server
Summary
by MITRE
Internet Communication Manager (aka ICMAN.exe or ICM) in SAP NetWeaver Application Server 6.x and 7.x, possibly only on Windows, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (process crash) via a URI of a certain length that contains a sap-isc-key parameter, related to configuration of a web cache.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2007-3615 represents a critical denial of service flaw within SAP NetWeaver Application Server components, specifically affecting the Internet Communication Manager service. This vulnerability manifests through a carefully crafted URI that exploits a weakness in how the system handles web cache configuration parameters. The affected versions include SAP NetWeaver Application Server 6.x and 7.x, with particular emphasis on Windows implementations, suggesting platform-specific implementation details that may contribute to the exploitability of this weakness.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker crafts a URI containing a sap-isc-key parameter of specific length that triggers an improper handling of cache configuration data within the ICM service. This flaw falls under the category of input validation issues and can be classified as a CWE-129 weakness, representing improper validation of input boundaries. The system fails to properly sanitize or validate the length and content of the sap-isc-key parameter, leading to a buffer overflow or memory corruption scenario that ultimately causes the ICM process to crash and terminate unexpectedly.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can be leveraged by malicious actors to systematically deny service to legitimate users of the SAP application infrastructure. The denial of service occurs at the process level, meaning that the entire Internet Communication Manager service becomes unavailable, potentially affecting multiple application functionalities that depend on this component for web communication and caching operations. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network denial of service attacks, and represents a significant risk to business continuity in enterprise environments where SAP systems are critical infrastructure components.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to restrict access to the affected ICM service, implementing input validation controls at network boundaries, and applying the appropriate SAP security patches that address the buffer handling issues in the web cache configuration module. The remediation efforts should also include monitoring for suspicious URI patterns containing sap-isc-key parameters and establishing alerting mechanisms for process crashes in the ICM service. Additionally, security teams should consider implementing rate limiting controls on web requests and conducting comprehensive vulnerability assessments of their SAP NetWeaver environments to identify similar input validation weaknesses that could be exploited in similar fashion. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper boundary checking and input validation in enterprise application servers, particularly those handling web-based communication and caching configurations.