CVE-2011-3849 in Directory
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in dxserver before 6279 in CA Directory 8.1 and CA Directory r12 before SP7 CR1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a crafted SNMP packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-3849 represents a significant security flaw within the CA Directory software ecosystem, specifically affecting versions prior to dxserver build 6279 in CA Directory 8.1 and CA Directory r12 before SP7 CR1. This issue manifests as a remote denial of service condition that can be triggered through the careful crafting of SNMP packets, potentially disrupting critical directory services and compromising system availability. The vulnerability resides in the handling of SNMP communications within the dxserver component, which serves as the core directory service daemon responsible for managing directory operations and network communications.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which addresses buffer overflow vulnerabilities in heap-based memory structures. The flaw occurs when the dxserver daemon processes malformed SNMP packets that contain specially crafted data sequences designed to exploit memory handling deficiencies in the SNMP implementation. These crafted packets can cause the daemon to crash or terminate unexpectedly, leading to complete service disruption for directory services that depend on the CA Directory infrastructure. The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with the ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network denial of service attacks targeting services and network infrastructure components.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption, as directory services form the backbone of many enterprise authentication and authorization systems. When the dxserver daemon crashes due to malicious SNMP packets, organizations may experience cascading failures affecting user authentication, access control, and system integration with other directory-dependent services. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this weakness from external network positions without requiring local system access or credentials, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where directory services are exposed to untrusted networks. Organizations utilizing CA Directory versions affected by this vulnerability face potential business disruption, increased administrative overhead for incident response, and potential compliance violations due to service availability requirements.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2011-3849 should prioritize immediate implementation of vendor-provided patches and updates to reach dxserver build 6279 or later versions of CA Directory 8.1 and CA Directory r12 SP7 CR1. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to restrict SNMP traffic to trusted sources only, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual SNMP packet patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems with signature-based detection capabilities specifically targeting known SNMP-based attack patterns. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected CA Directory installations and establish incident response procedures to quickly address any potential exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of patched systems to ensure that the vulnerability is fully resolved without introducing compatibility issues with existing directory services and applications.