CVE-2013-4631 in AR Router 150
Summary
by MITRE
Huawei AR 150, 200, 1200, 2200, and 3200 routers, when SNMPv3 is enabled, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device crash) via malformed SNMPv3 requests that leverage unspecified overflow issues.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-4631 affects Huawei AR series routers including models AR150, AR200, AR1200, AR2200, and AR3200. This issue specifically manifests when SNMPv3 protocol is enabled on these network devices, creating a critical security weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers to cause system instability. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of SNMPv3 requests that contain malformed data structures, leading to unpredictable behavior in the router's processing mechanisms. According to industry standards, this flaw aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking allows attackers to write data beyond allocated memory regions. The affected devices operate under the assumption that legitimate SNMPv3 traffic will conform to expected protocols, but malicious actors can craft specially crafted packets that trigger memory corruption during processing.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of SNMPv3 request parameters that contain oversized or malformed data elements. When the router's SNMPv3 implementation processes these malformed requests, it fails to properly validate input lengths and data structures, resulting in memory corruption that can cause the device to crash or become unresponsive. This type of vulnerability falls under the ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network disruption through protocol manipulation and denial of service attacks. The overflow conditions can be triggered by various malformed SNMPv3 packet structures including improperly formatted authentication headers, incorrect message IDs, or malformed security parameters. The specific nature of the overflow remains unspecified in the CVE description, but typically such issues arise from insufficient input validation in the SNMPv3 processing stack where buffer boundaries are not properly enforced during packet parsing operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple device unavailability, as it can disrupt network services and potentially provide attackers with opportunities for further exploitation. When a Huawei router crashes due to this vulnerability, it can lead to complete network outages for the affected segment, particularly in environments where these devices serve as core network infrastructure components. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries do not require physical access or network credentials to exploit the flaw, making it particularly dangerous in production environments. Network administrators may experience difficulties in maintaining service availability and could face challenges in troubleshooting network disruptions that appear to originate from legitimate SNMP traffic. The vulnerability's presence in multiple router models within the AR series indicates a widespread issue affecting various network infrastructure components, potentially impacting organizations of all sizes that rely on Huawei networking equipment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-4631 should focus on immediate operational controls and long-term architectural improvements. Organizations should disable SNMPv3 functionality on affected routers when it is not strictly required, as this eliminates the attack surface entirely. Network segmentation and access control measures can limit the potential impact of exploitation by restricting which systems can send SNMP requests to these devices. Implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous SNMP traffic patterns may help identify exploitation attempts before they cause complete service disruption. Security patches released by Huawei should be applied immediately to address the root cause of the vulnerability, though organizations should verify that updates do not introduce compatibility issues with existing network management systems. The implementation of intrusion detection systems specifically configured to monitor for SNMP protocol anomalies can provide additional layers of protection. Organizations should also consider implementing network access control lists that restrict SNMP traffic to trusted management stations only, reducing the probability of successful exploitation by remote attackers. Regular vulnerability assessments and network scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining instances of affected devices within the network infrastructure.