CVE-2007-4136 in Conga
Summary
by MITRE
The ricci daemon in Red Hat Conga 0.10.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (loss of new connections) by repeatedly sending data or attempting connections.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/23/2019
The ricci daemon in Red Hat Conga 0.10.0 presents a significant denial of service vulnerability that fundamentally compromises the availability of cluster management services. This vulnerability resides within the daemon responsible for managing cluster resources and configurations, making it a critical component in high-availability environments. The flaw manifests when the daemon fails to properly handle repeated data transmissions or connection attempts, leading to a cascading failure that prevents new connections from being established. The vulnerability specifically affects the daemon's ability to maintain stable network connections under sustained load conditions, creating a scenario where legitimate users cannot access cluster management services.
Technical analysis reveals that the vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and connection handling mechanisms within the ricci daemon implementation. When remote attackers repeatedly send data or attempt connections, the daemon's state management becomes corrupted, resulting in connection exhaustion or resource depletion. This behavior aligns with common software flaws categorized under CWE-400, which addresses unchecked resource consumption and improper handling of input data streams. The daemon's failure to properly implement connection limits or robust error handling creates an exploitable condition where malicious actors can systematically exhaust available resources through repetitive connection attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass broader implications for cluster reliability and business continuity. Organizations relying on Red Hat Conga for cluster management face potential downtime that could affect critical infrastructure components, particularly in environments where high availability is paramount. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can leverage this weakness from external networks without requiring local access, making it particularly dangerous in production environments. This weakness directly violates principles outlined in the ATT&CK framework under the T1499 category, which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a clear example of how improper resource management can lead to system unavailability.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing connection rate limiting and proper resource management within the daemon configuration. Organizations should consider applying the vendor-provided patches or upgrading to newer versions of Red Hat Conga that address this vulnerability. Network-level protections such as firewall rules and connection tracking mechanisms can help reduce the impact of such attacks by limiting the number of concurrent connections or implementing automated response measures. The vulnerability highlights the importance of implementing proper input validation and resource management practices, as recommended by industry standards including the OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity guidelines, which emphasize the need for robust error handling and resource consumption monitoring in network services.