CVE-2011-1514 in OpenView Storage Data Protector
Summary
by MITRE
The inet service in HP OpenView Storage Data Protector 6.00 through 6.20 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via a request containing crafted parameters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-1514 affects the inet service component within HP OpenView Storage Data Protector versions 6.00 through 6.20, representing a critical security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks against affected systems. This vulnerability specifically targets the network service implementation that handles incoming requests from remote clients, creating a pathway for malicious actors to disrupt normal operations. The affected service operates as part of HP's comprehensive storage management solution designed to protect enterprise data environments, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on HP OpenView Storage Data Protector for their backup and recovery operations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the inet service's parameter processing logic, which fails to properly sanitize or validate incoming request parameters before attempting to process them. When maliciously crafted parameters are submitted to the service, the system attempts to dereference a NULL pointer during the processing phase, resulting in an immediate crash of the daemon process. This NULL pointer dereference represents a classic software flaw that falls under the CWE-476 category of NULL Pointer Dereference, where the application assumes that a pointer variable contains a valid memory address when it actually points to NULL. The vulnerability exists because the service does not implement proper bounds checking or parameter validation mechanisms to handle malformed input data, allowing attackers to exploit this weakness through carefully constructed requests that trigger the problematic code path.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, potentially causing significant business interruptions for organizations using HP OpenView Storage Data Protector for their critical data protection requirements. When the daemon crashes due to the NULL pointer dereference, the storage backup and recovery services become unavailable, potentially leaving organizations without access to their backup infrastructure during critical moments. This denial of service condition can result in extended downtime for backup operations, which may lead to data loss scenarios if backup windows are missed or if the system requires manual intervention to restart the crashed service. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this vulnerability from outside the organization's network perimeter without requiring physical access or local credentials, making it particularly dangerous as it can be executed by anyone who can reach the affected service port.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations to protect their storage infrastructure from potential exploitation. The most effective approach involves applying the vendor-provided security patches and updates released by HP to address the specific NULL pointer dereference issue in the inet service. System administrators should also consider implementing network-level controls such as firewall rules to restrict access to the affected service ports from untrusted networks, thereby reducing the attack surface. Additionally, monitoring and logging mechanisms should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in service requests that might indicate exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability typically manifests through specific malformed parameter sequences. From a security framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service and demonstrates the importance of input validation controls as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security principles. The vulnerability also highlights the need for proper error handling and defensive programming practices that prevent applications from crashing due to malformed input data, which should be considered in the broader context of secure software development lifecycle practices.