CVE-2014-6303 in Sequence Kinetics
Summary
by MITRE
The Monitoring Administration pages in PNMsoft Sequence Kinetics before 7.7 do not properly detect recursion during entity expansion, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource 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 • 04/13/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6303 affects PNMsoft Sequence Kinetics versions prior to 7.7, specifically targeting the Monitoring Administration pages functionality. This issue represents a classic implementation of the XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability pattern that has been documented in various security contexts over the years. The flaw manifests in the application's XML parser which fails to properly enforce limits on entity expansion recursion, creating a condition where maliciously crafted XML documents can trigger excessive resource consumption during processing. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it allows remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks without requiring authentication or specialized privileges, making it an attractive target for adversaries seeking to disrupt service availability.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves the improper handling of XML entity references within the application's monitoring administration interface. When processing XML documents, the system fails to implement adequate recursion detection or depth limiting mechanisms that would normally prevent infinite loops or excessive resource consumption during entity expansion. This weakness enables attackers to construct XML documents containing deeply nested entity references that cause the parser to consume excessive CPU cycles and memory resources. The vulnerability operates on principles similar to CVE-2003-1564, which established the foundational understanding of how XML entity expansion can be abused for resource exhaustion attacks. The recursive nature of the vulnerability means that each entity reference can potentially expand into multiple additional references, creating exponential resource consumption that quickly overwhelms system resources and leads to service disruption.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations relying on PNMsoft Sequence Kinetics for business process management and monitoring. The denial of service condition can result in complete unavailability of the monitoring administration pages, effectively preventing legitimate users from accessing critical system information and management capabilities. The resource consumption pattern typically leads to system performance degradation followed by complete service interruption, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where continuous availability is essential. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability with relatively simple XML payloads, requiring no specialized knowledge of the underlying system architecture or application internals. The vulnerability also poses risks to broader network infrastructure as the resource exhaustion can potentially affect system stability and impact other services running on the same infrastructure.
The security implications extend beyond simple denial of service to encompass potential exploitation for broader attack vectors. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference) and follows patterns identified in the ATT&CK framework under the technique of resource exhaustion attacks. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to PNMsoft Sequence Kinetics version 7.7 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for proper entity expansion recursion detection. Additional protective measures include implementing XML parser configuration changes that limit entity expansion depth, enabling strict validation of incoming XML content, and deploying network-level controls to restrict access to the affected monitoring administration pages. Security teams should also consider implementing monitoring and alerting for unusual resource consumption patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, as well as conducting thorough vulnerability assessments to identify similar recursion vulnerabilities in other XML processing components within their infrastructure.