CVE-2010-3701 in Enterprise MRG
Summary
by MITRE
lib/MessageStoreImpl.cpp in Red Hat Enterprise MRG before 1.2.2 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (stack memory exhaustion and broker crash) via a large persistent message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/24/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-3701 resides within the MessageStoreImpl.cpp component of Red Hat Enterprise MRG messaging infrastructure prior to version 1.2.2. This flaw represents a classic stack-based memory exhaustion issue that can be exploited by authenticated remote attackers to disrupt service availability. The vulnerability specifically targets the handling of persistent messages within the messaging broker architecture, creating a condition where maliciously crafted messages can trigger excessive memory consumption in the stack memory region.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management within the message processing pipeline. When the messaging broker receives a large persistent message, the flawed implementation fails to properly enforce memory limits or validate message size constraints before allocating stack space for processing. This allows an authenticated attacker to craft messages that consume excessive stack memory resources, eventually leading to stack overflow conditions that cause the broker process to crash. The vulnerability operates at the protocol level where persistent message handling is processed, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered through legitimate messaging operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass potential business continuity risks for organizations relying on MRG messaging infrastructure. A successful exploitation can result in complete broker unavailability, requiring manual intervention to restart services and potentially leading to message loss or delivery delays. The authenticated nature of the attack means that only users with valid credentials can exploit this vulnerability, but this limitation does not reduce the severity as it can be achieved through compromised accounts or insider threats. Organizations using affected versions face significant risk of operational downtime and potential data integrity issues during attack scenarios.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-3701 should focus on immediate version upgrades to Red Hat Enterprise MRG 1.2.2 or later, which contain the necessary patches to address the memory handling flaw. Additionally, implementing message size restrictions at the broker configuration level can provide defense-in-depth measures to prevent overly large messages from being processed. Network segmentation and access controls should be reinforced to limit the number of authenticated users who can submit messages to the broker. Monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual memory consumption patterns or repeated connection failures that may indicate exploitation attempts. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-129 which addresses improper validation of input boundaries, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks, emphasizing the need for proper input validation and resource management in messaging systems.
The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of memory management in distributed messaging systems and highlights the need for comprehensive testing of boundary conditions in message processing components. Organizations should implement regular vulnerability assessments targeting messaging infrastructure components and maintain up-to-date security patches to prevent exploitation of similar memory-related flaws. The attack vector emphasizes that even authenticated users can cause significant disruption, underscoring the necessity of robust access controls and monitoring mechanisms within enterprise messaging environments.