CVE-2013-3460 in Unified Communications Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Memory leak in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) 8.5(x) before 8.5(1)su6, 8.6(x) before 8.6(2a)su3, and 9.x before 9.1(1) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (service disruption) via a high rate of UDP packets, aka Bug ID CSCub85597.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/07/2022
Cisco Unified Communications Manager represents a critical component in enterprise voice communication infrastructure serving as the central controller for IP phone systems. The vulnerability described in CVE-2013-3460 manifests as a memory leak within the Unified CM software that affects versions 8.5(x) prior to 8.5(1)su6, 8.6(x) prior to 8.6(2a)su3, and 9.x prior to 9.1(1). This flaw specifically impacts the system's handling of UDP packet processing within the communication protocols that govern voice traffic management and signaling.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the improper memory management within the Unified CM's UDP processing routines where allocated memory blocks are not properly released after processing high volumes of UDP packets. This memory leak occurs when the system receives a sustained high rate of UDP packets that exceed normal operational thresholds, causing the memory allocation pools to gradually fill up without proper cleanup mechanisms. The flaw operates at the network protocol level where the system fails to maintain proper memory hygiene during concurrent packet processing operations, creating a condition where memory resources become progressively consumed over time.
The operational impact of this vulnerability presents a significant risk to enterprise communication systems as remote attackers can exploit this weakness to perform denial of service attacks against Unified CM servers. By sending a high volume of UDP packets to the affected system, attackers can trigger the memory leak condition that eventually leads to system instability and complete service disruption. The attack vector requires only network access to the targeted Unified CM system and does not require authentication or specialized privileges, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where such systems are often exposed to external networks. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-401 which describes improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability face substantial operational risks including complete communication outages that can disrupt business operations across entire enterprises. The memory leak can cause the Unified CM process to consume all available memory resources, leading to system crashes, restarts, or complete service unavailability. Recovery from such an attack typically requires manual intervention including system restarts, which can result in extended downtime and potential data loss during the recovery process. The vulnerability affects critical business communication infrastructure making it a prime target for attackers seeking to disrupt enterprise operations. System administrators must implement proper monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual memory consumption patterns and establish network segmentation to limit exposure to external threat actors. The remediation process requires applying the appropriate Cisco security patches and updates to the affected Unified CM versions, with careful planning to minimize service disruption during the update process. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting and access control measures to reduce the impact of potential attacks while maintaining the integrity of their communication systems.