CVE-2008-2097 in ESXi
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in the openwsman management service in VMware ESXi 3.5 and ESX 3.5 allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges via an "invalid Content-Length."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/01/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2008-2097 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within VMware ESXi 3.5 and ESX 3.5 management services, specifically affecting the openwsman component that handles web services management protocols. This issue resides in the processing of Content-Length headers within the web service interface, creating a potential privilege escalation vector for authenticated remote attackers. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and boundary checking when handling malformed Content-Length values in HTTP requests directed to the management service.
The technical exploitation of this buffer overflow occurs when an authenticated user sends a specially crafted HTTP request containing an invalid Content-Length header value. The openwsman service fails to properly validate the length parameter, allowing malicious input to overwrite adjacent memory locations in the application's memory space. This memory corruption can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially allowing attackers to gain root access to the underlying hypervisor system. The vulnerability specifically targets the management service layer rather than the core hypervisor functionality, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through legitimate management interfaces.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant security risk for VMware environments running affected versions, as it allows remote authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges from standard user accounts to system-level access. The attack requires only authentication credentials, which are often readily available through legitimate administrative access or through credential compromise techniques. Once exploited, the attacker can gain complete control over the hypervisor, potentially affecting all virtual machines hosted on that system, leading to data breaches, service disruption, and lateral movement within the network infrastructure.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of improper input validation in network services. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and can be categorized under T1068, which involves exploiting vulnerabilities to gain elevated privileges. The attack chain typically involves initial access through legitimate authentication, followed by exploitation of the buffer overflow to execute malicious code with higher privileges, ultimately leading to system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include immediate patching of VMware ESXi 3.5 and ESX 3.5 systems with the appropriate security updates from VMware, which address the buffer overflow in the openwsman management service. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit access to management interfaces, enforce strong authentication mechanisms including multi-factor authentication, and monitor for suspicious Content-Length header values in web service logs. Additionally, network intrusion detection systems should be configured to detect and alert on malformed HTTP requests that attempt to exploit this specific vulnerability pattern. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining unpatched systems within the environment, as this vulnerability affects multiple versions of VMware's hypervisor platform.