CVE-2014-3104 in Rational ClearCase
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Rational ClearQuest 7.1 before 7.1.2.15, 8.0.0 before 8.0.0.12, and 8.0.1 before 8.0.1.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references, a similar issue to CVE-2003-1564.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/29/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3104 affects IBM Rational ClearQuest versions 7.1 before 7.1.2.15, 8.0.0 before 8.0.0.12, and 8.0.1 before 8.0.1.5, representing a significant security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks through carefully crafted XML documents. This issue constitutes a classic example of an XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability that exploits the processing of nested entity references within XML documents. The flaw specifically targets the XML parser implementation within ClearQuest's web services and data processing components, where the system fails to properly validate or limit the depth and number of nested entity references during XML document parsing. The vulnerability operates under the same principles as CVE-2003-1564, which established the foundational understanding of how malformed XML entities could be leveraged to consume excessive system resources. This particular weakness falls under the CWE-611 vulnerability classification, which specifically addresses improper restriction of XML external entity references, making it a direct descendant of the well-known XML bomb attack pattern. The attack vector requires an attacker to submit a malicious XML document containing numerous nested entity references that trigger exponential memory consumption during parsing, effectively exhausting available system resources and rendering the application unavailable to legitimate users. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can lead to complete system unavailability, potential system crashes, and resource exhaustion that may affect other applications running on the same infrastructure. Attackers can exploit this flaw without requiring authentication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where ClearQuest is exposed to untrusted networks or user inputs. The vulnerability represents a critical threat to enterprise systems that rely on ClearQuest for workflow management and issue tracking, as it can be used to systematically disrupt business operations. Organizations using these vulnerable versions face significant risk of service interruption and potential financial loss due to the denial of service nature of the attack. The attack mechanism specifically targets the XML processing capabilities of the ClearQuest application, where the parser does not implement proper safeguards against excessive entity expansion. This allows attackers to craft XML documents that, when processed, cause the system to allocate increasingly large amounts of memory as it recursively resolves entity references. The exponential growth in memory consumption occurs because each entity reference can potentially expand into additional entity references, creating a cascading effect that quickly consumes available system resources. From an enterprise security perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper input validation and resource limiting mechanisms within XML parsers, particularly in applications that process external data inputs. The flaw highlights the necessity of adhering to security best practices such as implementing entity expansion limits, disabling external entity resolution, and applying proper XML schema validation to prevent such resource exhaustion attacks. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to this vulnerability, while also ensuring that all systems are updated to patched versions of ClearQuest that address this specific weakness. The remediation strategy involves applying the vendor-provided security patches that specifically address the XML entity processing behavior and implement proper resource limits to prevent excessive memory allocation during XML document processing. Security teams should also implement monitoring and logging of XML processing activities to detect potential exploitation attempts and establish baseline behavior for normal system operations. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK matrix as part of the T1499 technique for network denial of service provides further context for security professionals in understanding the threat landscape and implementing appropriate defensive measures against such resource exhaustion attacks.