CVE-2012-3096 in Unity Connection
Summary
by MITRE
Cisco Unity Connection (UC) 7.1, 8.0, and 8.5 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (resource consumption and administration outage) via extended use of the product, aka Bug ID CSCtd79132.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/05/2018
Cisco Unity Connection versions 7.1, 8.0, and 8.5 contain a vulnerability that permits authenticated remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks through prolonged utilization of the system resources. This weakness stems from insufficient resource management mechanisms within the application's processing of extended user sessions and administrative operations. The vulnerability manifests when legitimate authenticated users maintain extended connections or perform repetitive administrative tasks that gradually consume system resources without proper cleanup or resource limitation mechanisms. The flaw allows attackers to systematically deplete memory, CPU cycles, or other critical system resources through sustained exploitation, ultimately leading to complete system unavailability and administrative outages. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which addresses unchecked resource consumption in software systems, and represents a classic example of resource exhaustion attacks that can severely impact enterprise communication infrastructure. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as administrators may lose access to critical system management interfaces, creating cascading operational failures within unified communications environments. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by maintaining persistent connections or executing repeated administrative operations that gradually increase memory consumption and processing overhead. The extended use pattern suggests that the system lacks adequate resource monitoring and automatic cleanup mechanisms, allowing resource consumption to grow unchecked over time. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations relying on Cisco Unity Connection for voice messaging and unified communications, where administrative outages can severely disrupt business operations. The issue demonstrates poor resource management practices that violate fundamental security principles outlined in the NIST SP 800-53 security controls, specifically those related to resource availability and system integrity. Organizations may experience complete service disruption when system resources reach critical thresholds, requiring manual intervention to restore normal operations. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1499, which covers resource exhaustion attacks targeting system availability. Proper implementation of resource limits, connection timeouts, and automatic cleanup mechanisms would prevent this vulnerability from being exploited. System administrators should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual resource consumption patterns and establish automated alerts for potential exploitation attempts. The flaw highlights the importance of robust resource management in enterprise communication platforms and underscores the need for regular security assessments of critical infrastructure components. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities, while also ensuring that all Cisco Unity Connection deployments are updated to patched versions that address this specific resource exhaustion issue.