CVE-2012-2145 in Qpid
Summary
by MITRE
Apache Qpid 0.17 and earlier does not properly restrict incoming client connections, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (file descriptor consumption) via a large number of incomplete connections.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/02/2025
Apache Qpid versions 0.17 and earlier contain a critical vulnerability in their connection handling mechanism that enables remote attackers to exhaust system resources through deliberate exploitation of incomplete connection attempts. This flaw resides in the broker's inability to effectively manage and limit incoming client connections, creating a pathway for malicious actors to consume file descriptors and ultimately cause system-wide denial of service conditions. The vulnerability specifically targets the protocol handling layer where incomplete connection sequences are not properly terminated or limited, allowing attackers to maintain numerous half-open connections that persist in the system's connection table.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate connection state management within the Qpid message broker's networking stack. When clients establish connections to the broker, the system maintains file descriptors for each connection attempt until the connection is fully established or explicitly closed. In vulnerable versions, the broker fails to implement proper connection rate limiting or connection timeout mechanisms, enabling attackers to initiate numerous connection sequences without completing them. This results in a gradual depletion of available file descriptors on the system, as each incomplete connection consumes one file descriptor that should otherwise be available for legitimate operations.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates severe disruption to messaging services by consuming system resources that are essential for normal broker operations. The file descriptor exhaustion occurs gradually but consistently, making it difficult to detect and isolate the attack. Network administrators may observe increasing connection counts, degraded performance, and eventually complete service unavailability as the system runs out of available file descriptors. The attack requires minimal resources from the attacker's side, making it particularly dangerous as it can be executed with relatively simple tools that create multiple connection attempts without completing them. This vulnerability affects the availability aspect of the CIA triad by compromising the system's ability to provide services to legitimate users.
The mitigation strategies for this vulnerability involve implementing proper connection limits and timeouts within the Qpid configuration, along with system-level adjustments to increase available file descriptor limits. Administrators should configure connection rate limiting parameters to prevent excessive concurrent connection attempts and implement shorter connection timeouts to automatically terminate incomplete connections. Additionally, system administrators should monitor connection counts and file descriptor usage to detect potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which describes improper restriction of operations within a limited context, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The fix requires upgrading to Apache Qpid version 0.18 or later, where connection handling has been properly restricted and rate limiting mechanisms have been implemented to prevent resource exhaustion through incomplete connection sequences.