CVE-2011-1786 in Likewise Open
Summary
by MITRE
lsassd in Likewise Open /Enterprise 5.3 before build 7845, Open 6.0 before build 8325, and Enterprise 6.0 before build 178, as distributed in VMware ESXi 4.1 and ESX 4.1 and possibly other products, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via an Active Directory login attempt that provides a username containing an invalid byte sequence.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/28/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-1786 affects the lsassd service component within Likewise Open and Enterprise authentication products, specifically versions prior to certain build numbers including 7845 for 5.3, 8325 for 6.0, and 178 for Enterprise 6.0. This issue manifests within VMware ESXi 4.1 and ESX 4.1 environments where the service is responsible for handling authentication requests and managing security contexts. The flaw resides in how the lsassd daemon processes Active Directory login attempts, particularly when encountering malformed username inputs containing invalid byte sequences. This represents a classic buffer overflow or input validation vulnerability that can be exploited to disrupt service availability.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker submits an Active Directory login request containing a username with invalid byte sequences that the lsassd service cannot properly handle during parsing operations. When the service attempts to process these malformed inputs, it fails to validate the byte sequences properly, leading to a crash of the lsassd daemon. This daemon crash results in a complete denial of service condition where legitimate authentication requests cannot be processed, effectively blocking user access to the system. The vulnerability specifically targets the service's handling of input validation without proper bounds checking or error handling for malformed data sequences.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can be leveraged by attackers to systematically deny access to critical authentication services within virtualized environments. In VMware ESXi and ESX systems, where lsassd plays a crucial role in Active Directory integration and user authentication, this vulnerability can severely impact system availability and compromise the integrity of the authentication infrastructure. Organizations relying on these platforms for enterprise authentication may experience service outages that affect multiple users and applications dependent on successful authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in environments where continuous availability is critical and where the authentication service is a single point of failure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2011-1786 should include immediate patching of affected Likewise Open and Enterprise versions to build numbers that address the input validation flaws in lsassd. System administrators should also implement network-level controls to restrict authentication attempts and monitor for unusual login patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing redundant authentication mechanisms and ensuring proper logging and monitoring of authentication service activities. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-129 Input Validation and CWE-20 Improper Input Validation categories, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for denial of service attacks. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify and remediate similar input validation issues across authentication services, particularly in virtualized environments where service availability is paramount.