CVE-2014-3608 in Compute
Summary
by MITRE
The VMWare driver in OpenStack Compute (Nova) before 2014.1.3 allows remote authenticated users to bypass the quota limit and cause a denial of service (resource consumption) by putting the VM into the rescue state, suspending it, which puts into an ERROR state, and then deleting the image. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-2573.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/29/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-3608 represents a critical flaw in OpenStack Compute (Nova) that specifically affects the VMware driver implementation. This security issue emerged in Nova versions prior to 2014.1.3 and demonstrates how incomplete security fixes can create new attack vectors that compound existing risks. The vulnerability exploits a fundamental weakness in the quota enforcement mechanisms within the VMware driver, allowing authenticated attackers to manipulate virtual machine states in ways that circumvent resource limitations imposed by the system. The flaw is particularly concerning because it directly enables resource exhaustion attacks that can impact system availability and performance across cloud environments relying on VMware integration within OpenStack deployments.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a specific sequence of operations that manipulate virtual machine lifecycle states to bypass quota controls. Attackers can initiate a VM rescue state, which typically provides temporary access to a virtual machine for troubleshooting purposes. Once in rescue state, the VM can be suspended, transitioning it to an ERROR state where the system's resource accounting becomes inconsistent. The final step involves deleting the associated image, which triggers a cascade of resource consumption that bypasses normal quota enforcement mechanisms. This particular sequence exploits a gap in the state transition handling logic where the system fails to properly account for resources consumed during the rescue and suspension process, allowing attackers to accumulate resource usage beyond configured limits without proper authorization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple resource exhaustion, creating potential for significant service disruption within OpenStack environments. When attackers successfully execute this exploit, they can consume system resources such as storage space, memory, and processing capacity at rates that exceed normal operational limits. The denial of service aspect becomes particularly problematic in multi-tenant cloud environments where resource isolation is critical for maintaining service quality for legitimate users. This vulnerability can be particularly damaging in production environments where administrators have configured strict quotas to prevent any single tenant from consuming excessive resources. The fact that this vulnerability was introduced due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-2573 demonstrates the complexity of security patching in large-scale distributed systems and the potential for remediation efforts to inadvertently create new attack surfaces. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) categories, representing a classic case of insufficient privilege checking combined with inadequate resource accounting.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires only authenticated access to the OpenStack Nova service, making it particularly dangerous in environments where access controls are not properly enforced or where legitimate users have elevated privileges. The attack pattern specifically targets the VMware driver implementation, indicating that organizations using VMware-based virtualization within their OpenStack deployments are particularly at risk. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and resource consumption, potentially enabling adversaries to perform persistent resource exhaustion attacks that can degrade system performance over time. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring of VM state transitions and resource consumption patterns to detect anomalous behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of thorough regression testing when applying security patches and the necessity of maintaining detailed documentation of security fixes to prevent similar issues from arising in future updates. This particular flaw serves as a reminder that security is not just about preventing unauthorized access, but also about ensuring that legitimate system operations do not create opportunities for abuse through improper state management and resource accounting mechanisms.