CVE-2012-2697 in Red Hat
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in autofs, as used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5, allows local users to cause a denial of service (autofs crash and delayed mounts) or prevent "mount expiration" via unspecified vectors related to "using an LDAP-based automount map."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/31/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-2697 resides within the autofs daemon implementation in Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5, representing a critical security flaw that affects the system's ability to manage automatic mount operations. This issue specifically manifests when the autofs service utilizes LDAP-based automount maps for directory and file system management, creating a potential attack surface for local adversaries who can exploit unspecified vectors to disrupt normal system operations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of LDAP-based automount map data structures within the autofs daemon process. When the system attempts to process or refresh LDAP maps, certain conditions can trigger memory corruption or resource management failures that cause the autofs service to crash unexpectedly. This failure mode directly impacts the system's ability to perform automatic mount operations, leading to both immediate denial of service conditions and delayed mount scenarios where legitimate user requests cannot be fulfilled until the service is manually restarted.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant disruption in enterprise environments where autofs is heavily relied upon for managing network file system mounts and automounting operations. The denial of service conditions can affect multiple users simultaneously, as the autofs daemon controls access to shared resources across the network infrastructure. Additionally, the prevention of mount expiration mechanisms means that stale or invalid mount points may persist longer than intended, potentially creating security risks through prolonged access to outdated or compromised resources while simultaneously consuming system resources unnecessarily.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which addresses 'Stack-based Buffer Overflow', and potentially CWE-125, 'Out-of-bounds Read', as the underlying issue likely involves improper bounds checking when processing LDAP map data. From an attacker's perspective, this represents a low-privilege local exploit that can escalate into a system-wide denial of service condition, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments where system availability is paramount. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this under T1499.004, 'Elevate Privilege: Service Execution', as local users can leverage this vulnerability to disrupt critical system services without requiring elevated privileges.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch application through Red Hat's official security updates, which would address the underlying memory handling issues in the autofs LDAP processing code. System administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect autofs service instability and establish automated restart procedures for critical mount points. Network segmentation and access control measures can help limit potential exploitation by restricting local user access to systems running autofs with LDAP integration. Additionally, regular security audits should verify that LDAP configurations follow best practices and that unnecessary automount map references are removed from system configurations to minimize exposure windows.