CVE-2015-0744 in DTA Control System
Summary
by MITRE
Cisco DTA Control System (DTACS) 4.0.0.9 and Cisco Headend System Release allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption, and TCP service outage) via (1) a SYN flood or (2) other TCP traffic flood, aka Bug IDs CSCus50642, CSCus50662, CSCus50625, CSCus50657, and CSCus68315.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-0744 affects Cisco DTA Control System version 4.0.0.9 and Cisco Headend System Release, representing a critical denial of service weakness that can be exploited remotely by attackers to disrupt system operations. This flaw manifests through two primary attack vectors involving TCP traffic manipulation that can overwhelm system resources and render services unavailable to legitimate users. The vulnerability impacts network infrastructure components that rely on these Cisco systems for content delivery and headend operations, making it particularly concerning for service providers and broadcast organizations that depend on continuous system availability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate handling of TCP connection requests and traffic patterns within the affected Cisco systems. When subjected to SYN flood attacks or other forms of TCP traffic flooding, the systems fail to properly manage connection states and resource allocation, leading to excessive CPU utilization and memory consumption. This resource exhaustion ultimately results in TCP service outages that prevent legitimate network traffic from being processed. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and connection management protocols that do not adequately distinguish between legitimate and malicious traffic patterns, allowing attackers to exploit fundamental TCP stack behaviors to consume system resources.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-0744 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise entire network operations within organizations relying on Cisco DTA Control System and Headend System components. Service providers may experience complete outages of content delivery services, affecting thousands of end users who depend on uninterrupted access to broadcast, streaming, or telecommunications services. The vulnerability's exploitation can occur without authentication requirements, making it particularly dangerous as attackers can leverage it from remote locations to cause widespread disruption. Organizations may face significant financial losses due to service interruptions, customer dissatisfaction, and potential regulatory penalties for failing to maintain service availability standards.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of broader network attack patterns and implement layered defense strategies. The flaw aligns with common attack techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under network service disruption tactics, where adversaries seek to exhaust system resources to prevent legitimate operations. Organizations should implement network segmentation to isolate affected systems, deploy rate limiting and connection tracking mechanisms, and establish monitoring protocols to detect anomalous TCP traffic patterns. The vulnerability also relates to CWE-400, which addresses uncontrolled resource consumption, and CWE-119, concerning weaknesses in memory management that can lead to system instability. Remediation efforts should prioritize applying official Cisco patches, configuring firewall rules to limit TCP connection rates, and implementing intrusion detection systems to identify and block malicious traffic patterns before they can overwhelm system resources.