CVE-2010-4592 in Lotus Mobile Connect
Summary
by MITRE
The Mobile Network Connections functionality in the Connection Manager in IBM Lotus Mobile Connect before 6.1.4, when HTTP Access Services (HTTP-AS) is enabled, does not properly handle failed attempts at establishing HTTP-TCP sessions, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and daemon crash) by making many TCP connection attempts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/08/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-4592 resides within IBM Lotus Mobile Connect's Connection Manager component, specifically affecting versions prior to 6.1.4. This issue manifests in the Mobile Network Connections functionality when HTTP Access Services (HTTP-AS) is enabled, creating a significant security gap that impacts system availability and stability. The flaw represents a classic resource exhaustion vulnerability that can be exploited to disrupt normal service operations through deliberate abuse of the connection handling mechanism.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate error handling within the HTTP-TCP session establishment process. When remote attackers initiate multiple TCP connection attempts, the system fails to properly manage these failed connection attempts, leading to progressive memory consumption and eventual daemon crashes. This improper handling occurs at the session management level where failed connections are not effectively terminated or recycled, causing the system to consume increasing amounts of memory resources. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-400 as an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption issue, specifically manifesting as a denial of service condition through resource exhaustion.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass potential system instability and complete service unavailability. Attackers can exploit this weakness by flooding the system with connection attempts, causing the daemon process to consume all available memory resources until it crashes and requires manual restart. This type of attack directly violates the availability principle of the CIA triad and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1499.100 as "Network Denial of Service" where the attacker targets network services to prevent legitimate use. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in mobile network environments where continuous connectivity is essential for business operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-4592 should prioritize immediate patching to IBM Lotus Mobile Connect version 6.1.4 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for proper connection handling. Organizations should also implement connection rate limiting and monitoring mechanisms to detect abnormal connection patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Network-level protections such as firewall rules that limit TCP connection attempts from specific sources can provide additional defense-in-depth measures. The fix addresses the root cause by implementing proper connection state management and ensuring failed connections are properly cleaned up, preventing the accumulation of resources that leads to system crashes. Security teams should also conduct regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar connection handling issues in other network services and ensure proper input validation and error handling practices are maintained across all system components.