CVE-2008-0977 in Double-Take
Summary
by MITRE
Double-Take 5.0.0.2865 and earlier, distributed under the HP StorageWorks Storage Mirroring name and other names, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a certain long packet that triggers an attempt to allocate a large amount of memory.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/21/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-0977 affects Double-Take 5.0.0.2865 and earlier versions, which are distributed under the HP StorageWorks Storage Mirroring brand and other naming conventions. This critical flaw resides in the network daemon component responsible for handling incoming data packets within the storage mirroring solution. The vulnerability manifests when the system receives a specially crafted packet that exceeds normal operational parameters, leading to a denial of service condition that crashes the daemon process. The affected software operates as a critical component in enterprise storage environments where continuous data replication and backup services are essential for business continuity. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability of storage mirroring services and can result in significant operational disruptions for organizations relying on these systems for data protection and disaster recovery operations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the packet processing logic of the Double-Take daemon. When a remote attacker sends a packet containing an excessive amount of data, the system attempts to allocate memory proportional to the packet size without proper bounds checking or memory allocation limits. This behavior represents a classic buffer overflow scenario where the system fails to validate the size of incoming data before attempting to process it. The flaw specifically affects memory allocation routines that do not implement proper size constraints, allowing malicious actors to trigger excessive memory consumption that ultimately leads to daemon termination. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-122, which describes "Heap-based Buffer Overflow" and represents a fundamental memory safety issue where insufficient bounds checking allows for improper memory allocation and subsequent system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can compromise the integrity of storage mirroring operations and potentially lead to data loss scenarios. Organizations utilizing affected Double-Take versions face the risk of unplanned service outages during critical data synchronization periods, which could result in extended downtime for backup operations and disaster recovery procedures. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not require physical access or local credentials to trigger the denial of service condition, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments. From an attacker perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers "Endpoint Denial of Service," and represents a straightforward method for disrupting storage infrastructure services. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it can be executed from any network location capable of reaching the affected system, potentially enabling large-scale service disruption across multiple storage environments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patch deployment as the primary solution, with organizations urgently upgrading to versions that include proper input validation and memory allocation bounds checking. Network segmentation and firewall rules can provide temporary protective measures by limiting access to the affected daemon ports, though this approach does not address the underlying memory allocation flaw. System administrators should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory allocation patterns or large packet processing activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper software security practices including input validation, memory management, and regular security updates within enterprise storage solutions. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems specifically configured to identify suspicious packet patterns that could indicate attempts to exploit this memory allocation vulnerability. Given the critical nature of storage mirroring services, organizations should develop incident response procedures that address potential daemon crashes and ensure rapid recovery capabilities for affected systems.