CVE-2014-3224 in Quidway
Summary
by MITRE
Huawei Quidway S9700 V200R003C00SPC500, Quidway S9300 V200R003C00SPC500, Quidway S7700 V200R003C00SPC500, Quidway S6700 V200R003C00SPC300, Quidway S6300 V200R003C00SPC300, Quidway S5700 V200R003C00SPC300, Quidway S5300 V200R003C00SPC300 enable attackers to launch DoS attacks by crafting and sending malformed packets to these vulnerable products.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/24/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3224 affects multiple Huawei networking devices including the S9700, S9300, S7700, S6700, S6300, and S5700 series switches running specific software versions. This critical flaw represents a denial of service vulnerability that allows remote attackers to disrupt network operations by sending specially crafted malformed packets to these network infrastructure devices. The affected products operate under Huawei's proprietary operating system and are widely deployed in enterprise and data center environments where network reliability is paramount.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the packet processing mechanisms of these networking devices. When the switches receive malformed packets that exceed expected parameter boundaries or contain unexpected data structures, the processing routines fail to properly handle the malformed data, leading to system instability and potential complete service disruption. This flaw falls under the CWE-129 category of Improper Validation of Array Index, as the devices fail to validate packet data before processing, and aligns with CWE-399 which covers Resource Management Errors in network protocol implementations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted for organizations relying on these network switches. Attackers can exploit this weakness to cause complete network outages, disrupting critical business operations and potentially leading to significant financial losses. The DoS attack can be executed remotely without requiring authentication, making it particularly dangerous as any network-connected attacker can potentially exploit the vulnerability. Network administrators may experience extended downtime while troubleshooting and applying patches, and the cascading effects of switch failures can impact entire network segments or data center operations. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprise networks where these switches serve as core infrastructure components, potentially compromising network availability for mission-critical applications and services.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest security patches provided by Huawei, which address the packet validation flaws in the affected software versions. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit exposure of these vulnerable devices to untrusted networks. Implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous packet patterns and unusual traffic behaviors will help identify potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should consider deploying intrusion prevention systems that can block known malicious packet patterns and establish network access control lists to restrict unnecessary traffic to these devices. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date network device firmware and implementing robust network security practices in accordance with industry standards such as those outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ISO 27001 requirements for network infrastructure security management.