CVE-2008-5419 in Control Center
Summary
by MITRE
Stack-based buffer overflow in SAN Manager Master Agent service (aka msragent.exe) in EMC Control Center 5.2 SP5 and 6.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via multiple SST_CTGTRANS requests.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-5419 represents a critical stack-based buffer overflow flaw within the SAN Manager Master Agent service component of EMC Control Center versions 5.2 SP5 and 6.0. This vulnerability specifically affects the msragent.exe process which serves as the master agent for storage area network management operations. The flaw manifests when the service processes multiple SST_CTGTRANS requests, which are part of the storage management communication protocol used by EMC's control center suite. The buffer overflow occurs due to inadequate input validation and bounds checking within the handling of these specific request types, creating a potential execution path for malicious actors to gain unauthorized system access.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the fundamental weakness of stack memory corruption through improper handling of user-supplied data. When the SAN Manager Master Agent receives SST_CTGTRANS requests containing oversized or malformed data payloads, the application fails to properly validate the input length before copying data into fixed-size stack buffers. This classic buffer overflow scenario allows attackers to overwrite adjacent stack memory locations including return addresses and control data, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the running service. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates over network protocols, making it exploitable by remote attackers without requiring local system access or authentication.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to enterprise storage management systems that rely on EMC Control Center for their SAN infrastructure monitoring and management. The remote exploit capability means that attackers can potentially compromise storage management systems from outside the corporate network, especially if the affected service ports are accessible through firewalls or network boundaries. The impact extends beyond simple code execution to potential data loss, system compromise, and disruption of critical storage operations. Organizations using affected EMC Control Center versions face significant exposure risk, particularly in environments where storage management systems are directly exposed to external network traffic or where network segmentation is inadequate.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of the ATT&CK framework, specifically under the execution and privilege escalation tactics where attackers can leverage buffer overflow exploits to gain unauthorized access to system resources. The CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) classification for this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, stack-based buffer overflow, and potentially CWE-787, out-of-bounds write, depending on the specific exploitation vector. Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected EMC Control Center versions to the latest available security updates, network segmentation to isolate the affected services, and implementation of network monitoring to detect suspicious SST_CTGTRANS traffic patterns. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other instances of similar buffer overflow conditions within their storage management infrastructure and consider implementing application whitelisting controls for the msragent.exe process to prevent unauthorized execution.