CVE-2015-7272 in iDRAC7
Summary
by MITRE
Dell Integrated Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) 6 before 2.80 and 7/8 before 2.21.21.21 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer overflow) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a long SSH username or input.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/03/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-7272 affects Dell Integrated Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) versions 6 before 2.80 and 7/8 before 2.21.21.21, representing a critical security flaw in remote management interfaces that could enable attackers to disrupt system operations or potentially execute arbitrary code. This issue manifests through improper input validation within the SSH authentication mechanism, where the system fails to adequately handle excessively long username inputs, creating a buffer overflow condition that can be exploited by remote attackers. The vulnerability resides in the iDRAC's SSH server implementation, which processes authentication requests without sufficient bounds checking on user-supplied data, particularly username parameters that exceed expected length limits.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves sending specially crafted SSH authentication requests containing excessively long usernames that exceed the allocated buffer space within the iDRAC's authentication subsystem. When the system attempts to process these malformed inputs, the buffer overflow occurs in the memory allocation handling of the SSH daemon, potentially leading to application crashes, system instability, or in more sophisticated attack scenarios, allowing for arbitrary code execution. The flaw operates at the application layer and specifically targets the SSH protocol implementation within the iDRAC firmware, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited remotely without requiring physical access to the target system. This vulnerability type aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of improper input validation that can lead to system compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-7272 extends beyond simple denial of service conditions, as it can potentially enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to critical system management interfaces that control hardware-level operations including remote power management, system monitoring, and configuration changes. Organizations relying on Dell iDRAC for remote system administration face significant risk from this vulnerability, as attackers could exploit it to disrupt critical infrastructure services, gain persistent access to management interfaces, or potentially escalate privileges within the system. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where remote access capabilities are essential for system maintenance, as it undermines the security of the management plane that is often considered a critical attack surface for targeted attacks against enterprise infrastructure. This issue has implications for compliance with security standards such as those outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1210 for exploiting weaknesses in remote services.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-7272 should prioritize immediate firmware updates to the affected iDRAC versions, with Dell releasing patches specifically addressing the buffer overflow conditions in the SSH implementation. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit access to iDRAC interfaces, deploy intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious SSH authentication patterns, and enforce strict access controls including multi-factor authentication for management interfaces. Additionally, security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected iDRAC hardware within their infrastructure, as the vulnerability affects multiple generations of Dell's remote management controllers. The remediation process should include thorough testing of firmware updates in non-production environments to ensure compatibility with existing management workflows and avoid unintended service disruptions. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level controls to restrict SSH access to iDRAC interfaces from trusted IP addresses and establish monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts through anomalous authentication patterns or repeated connection failures that may indicate active exploitation attempts.