CVE-2015-6332 in Prime Infrastructure
Summary
by MITRE
Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon hang) by sending many SSL renegotiation requests, aka Bug ID CSCuv56830.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/20/2022
Cisco Prime Infrastructure version 2.2 contains a critical vulnerability that enables remote attackers to trigger a denial of service condition through excessive SSL renegotiation requests. This vulnerability manifests as a daemon hang, effectively rendering the affected system unavailable to legitimate users and administrators. The flaw exists within the SSL implementation of the Prime Infrastructure platform, specifically in how it handles multiple consecutive renegotiation requests from remote clients. When an attacker sends numerous SSL renegotiation messages in rapid succession, the system's daemon process becomes unresponsive and enters a state where it cannot properly process additional requests or maintain normal operations. This behavior constitutes a classic resource exhaustion attack vector that targets the underlying SSL/TLS handling mechanisms of the network infrastructure platform.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and resource management within the SSL protocol handling components of Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.2. The system fails to properly limit or throttle SSL renegotiation requests, allowing an attacker to overwhelm the daemon with repeated renegotiation attempts. This condition aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes resource exhaustion vulnerabilities as a significant threat to system availability. The daemon process becomes trapped in a loop processing these requests without proper timeout mechanisms or request rate limiting, leading to complete service unavailability. From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability directly impacts the availability and reliability of network infrastructure management services, potentially affecting network monitoring, configuration management, and overall network operations that depend on Prime Infrastructure for centralized control.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-6332 extends beyond simple service disruption, as it compromises the fundamental availability of network infrastructure management capabilities. Organizations relying on Cisco Prime Infrastructure for network monitoring and management face potential business continuity risks when this vulnerability is exploited. The daemon hang condition typically requires manual intervention to restore normal operations, including system restarts or daemon process restarts, which can result in extended downtime and potential loss of network management capabilities during critical periods. This vulnerability also represents a significant concern for security operations centers that depend on continuous availability of infrastructure management tools. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it can be executed remotely without requiring authentication, making it accessible to any attacker with network access to the affected system. This characteristic places the vulnerability in the ATT&CK framework under the T1499.004 technique category, which encompasses network denial of service attacks. Organizations implementing security controls must consider this vulnerability as part of their broader denial of service mitigation strategies, particularly in environments where network infrastructure management systems are exposed to untrusted network segments or internet-facing services. The vulnerability underscores the importance of implementing proper SSL/TLS protocol handling with adequate rate limiting and resource management controls to prevent similar issues in network infrastructure platforms.