CVE-2013-2014 in Keystone
Summary
by MITRE
OpenStack Identity (Keystone) before 2013.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and crash) via multiple long requests.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/22/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2014 affects OpenStack Identity service known as Keystone, specifically versions prior to 2013.1 release. This represents a significant security flaw that exposes the identity management component of OpenStack to potential denial of service attacks. The issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the Keystone service, particularly concerning the handling of request parameters that can be exploited to consume excessive system resources. The vulnerability manifests when attackers submit multiple requests containing unusually long parameter values, leading to memory exhaustion and subsequent service crashes. This type of attack directly impacts the availability of the identity service, which is critical for authentication and authorization within OpenStack environments. The flaw demonstrates a classic resource exhaustion attack pattern where malicious actors can overwhelm system memory through carefully crafted requests that are not properly bounded or validated.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the Keystone service's failure to implement proper input length restrictions on authentication and authorization requests. When multiple requests with excessively long parameters are processed, the service allocates memory proportional to the request size without adequate bounds checking. This memory allocation continues until system resources are exhausted, causing the service to become unresponsive or crash entirely. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-770, which describes allocation of resources without limits or with inadequate limits, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The attack vector is remote and requires no authentication, making it particularly dangerous as any external party can exploit this weakness to disrupt identity services. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as Keystone is fundamental to OpenStack's security architecture, meaning that compromising this service can potentially lead to broader system compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-2014 is severe for organizations relying on OpenStack infrastructure, as the identity service disruption can cascade throughout the entire cloud environment. When Keystone becomes unavailable, all authentication and authorization requests fail, effectively locking users out of the system and preventing legitimate access to cloud resources. This vulnerability particularly affects cloud deployments where high availability and continuous service delivery are critical requirements. Organizations using older OpenStack versions may experience significant downtime and service degradation when this vulnerability is exploited, potentially resulting in business disruption and loss of customer confidence. The attack can be executed with minimal resources and technical expertise, making it an attractive target for malicious actors seeking to disrupt cloud services. System administrators face the challenge of implementing immediate mitigations while planning for proper upgrades to patched versions, as the vulnerability requires changes to the underlying service architecture to properly validate and limit request parameters.
The recommended mitigations for this vulnerability include immediate deployment of the patched Keystone version 2013.1 or later, which implements proper input validation and resource limiting mechanisms. Organizations should also implement network-level protections such as rate limiting and connection throttling to prevent abuse of the service. Configuration changes should enforce strict parameter length limits on all incoming requests to prevent memory exhaustion attacks. Additionally, monitoring and alerting systems should be enhanced to detect unusual memory consumption patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The fix addresses the root cause by implementing proper bounds checking on request parameters, ensuring that memory allocation is proportional to legitimate request sizes. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and block suspicious request patterns. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the OpenStack ecosystem. The remediation process requires careful planning to avoid service disruption while ensuring complete protection against this specific denial of service vulnerability.