CVE-2015-0582 in MDS 9000 NX-OS
Summary
by MITRE
The High Availability (HA) subsystem in Cisco NX-OS on MDS 9000 devices allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted traffic, aka Bug ID CSCuo09129.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/09/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-0582 affects the High Availability subsystem within Cisco NX-OS operating system on MDS 9000 series storage switches. This critical flaw resides in the handling of specific network traffic patterns that can trigger unexpected behavior in the device's HA mechanisms designed to maintain system availability and redundancy. The issue manifests when the system processes malformed or specially crafted packets that exploit a weakness in the HA protocol implementation, leading to unintended system state changes that ultimately result in service disruption.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and error handling within the HA subsystem's packet processing logic. When the MDS 9000 device receives specially crafted traffic that violates expected protocol formats or contains malformed data structures, the system fails to properly sanitize these inputs before processing them within the HA context. This lack of proper validation creates an exploitable condition where an attacker can manipulate the system's HA state machine through carefully constructed network packets, causing the device to enter an unstable condition that results in service interruption.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire storage network infrastructure that relies on these redundant systems for availability. When exploited successfully, the denial of service condition can cause the affected MDS 9000 device to become unresponsive or fail to maintain its high availability characteristics, which may lead to data access interruptions for applications dependent on the storage fabric. The attack requires only remote network access to the device, making it particularly dangerous as it can be executed from outside the local network perimeter without requiring physical access or elevated privileges.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, Input Validation, and CWE-20, Improper Input Validation, as it demonstrates how insufficient validation of network input data can lead to system instability and denial of service conditions. From an attack framework perspective, this issue maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, Network Denial of Service, and T1566.002, Phishing via Social Media, as attackers could potentially leverage this vulnerability as part of broader attack campaigns targeting enterprise storage infrastructure. The vulnerability's exploitation does not require authentication or specialized tools, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors and increasing its potential impact across enterprise environments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest Cisco security patches and updates that address this specific vulnerability in the HA subsystem. Network segmentation and access control measures should be enhanced to limit remote access to these critical storage devices, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect anomalous traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The implementation of redundant monitoring and alerting mechanisms becomes crucial to quickly identify and respond to potential exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability can cause cascading failures in storage network availability. Additionally, regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other network infrastructure components that may present comparable risks to system availability and data integrity.