CVE-2009-0624 in ACE 4710
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the SNMPv2c implementation in Cisco ACE Application Control Engine Module for Catalyst 6500 Switches and 7600 Routers before A2(1.3) and Cisco ACE 4710 Application Control Engine Appliance before A3(2.1) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via a crafted SNMPv1 packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/28/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-0624 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the SNMPv2c implementation of Cisco ACE Application Control Engine modules. This flaw affects specific hardware platforms including Catalyst 6500 Switches and 7600 Routers operating with software versions prior to A2(1.3) and the Cisco ACE 4710 Appliance before A3(2.1). The issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the SNMP processing stack, creating a pathway for remote attackers to manipulate the device's operational state through carefully constructed network packets.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the crafting of malicious SNMPv1 packets that leverage weaknesses in the SNMPv2c compatibility layer. When the affected Cisco devices receive these malformed packets, the processing logic fails to properly handle the unexpected data structures, leading to memory corruption or resource exhaustion conditions. This vulnerability specifically targets the SNMP protocol implementation rather than the underlying network infrastructure, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered over standard network communications without requiring authentication or privileged access. The flaw operates at the protocol parsing level, where insufficient bounds checking and validation routines allow malicious payloads to cause system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromising network availability and business continuity. When exploited successfully, the vulnerability forces the affected devices to reload their operating systems, resulting in complete service interruption for applications relying on the ACE module for traffic management and application control. This denial of service condition can persist until manual intervention occurs, requiring network administrators to perform device restarts and potentially disrupting critical network services. The vulnerability affects enterprise networks where ACE modules are commonly deployed for load balancing, application switching, and traffic optimization, making it particularly concerning for organizations relying on these devices for mission-critical applications.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2009-0624 should prioritize immediate software updates to the affected Cisco ACE modules, specifically implementing the patches released by Cisco under advisory numbers such as cisco-sa-20090218-ace. Network administrators should also consider implementing SNMP access controls and filtering mechanisms to restrict SNMP traffic to trusted sources only, although this approach provides limited protection given that the vulnerability can be exploited through unauthenticated means. The implementation of network segmentation and monitoring solutions can help detect anomalous SNMP traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-129 Input Validation and CWE-362 Concurrency Issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. Organizations should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all affected devices within their network infrastructure and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing device reload conditions.