CVE-2008-3817 in PIX
Summary
by MITRE
Memory leak in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 Series and PIX Security Appliances 8.0 before 8.0(4) and 8.1 before 8.1(2) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via an unspecified sequence of packets, related to the "initialization code for the hardware crypto accelerator."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-3817 represents a critical memory leak flaw affecting Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 Series and PIX Security Appliances running specific software versions. This issue resides within the initialization code for the hardware crypto accelerator component, which is responsible for handling cryptographic operations within the firewall infrastructure. The vulnerability manifests when the system processes an unspecified sequence of packets that trigger improper memory management during the crypto accelerator initialization phase, leading to progressive memory consumption over time.
The technical nature of this flaw falls under the category of memory management errors that can be classified as CWE-401, which specifically addresses memory leaks in software systems. The vulnerability operates at the network level where remote attackers can exploit it by sending carefully crafted packet sequences to the affected devices. These packets trigger the problematic initialization code path that fails to properly release allocated memory resources, causing the system to gradually consume available memory until it reaches critical levels that result in denial of service conditions.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to network security infrastructure as it can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication or specialized privileges. The memory consumption pattern typically progresses slowly but steadily, making it difficult to detect until the system becomes unstable or completely unresponsive. Network administrators may observe degraded performance, intermittent connectivity issues, or complete service outages as the affected appliances consume all available memory resources. The vulnerability affects multiple generations of Cisco security appliances, including ASA 5500 Series and PIX 500 Series devices, making it particularly widespread across enterprise network security deployments.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which describes network denial of service attacks that target system resources. Attackers can leverage this flaw to perform sustained resource exhaustion attacks against network security appliances, effectively disabling critical security controls. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as it can compromise the entire security infrastructure by rendering firewalls unable to process legitimate network traffic or maintain security policies. Organizations relying on these devices for network segmentation and security enforcement face potential exposure to lateral movement attacks or bypass of security controls when the appliances become unresponsive.
Cisco addressed this vulnerability through software updates that included fixes to the hardware crypto accelerator initialization code, specifically version 8.0(4) for ASA 5500 Series and 8.1(2) for PIX Security Appliances. Organizations should implement these patches immediately and verify their deployment through system monitoring to ensure that the memory leak has been resolved. Additionally, network administrators should monitor system memory usage patterns and implement intrusion detection systems that can identify unusual packet sequences that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management in security appliances and highlights the need for comprehensive testing of crypto accelerator components during security updates and system maintenance cycles.