CVE-2016-3091 in Diego
Summary
by MITRE
Cloud Foundry Diego 0.1468.0 through 0.1470.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/15/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-3091 affects Cloud Foundry Diego versions ranging from 0.1468.0 through 0.1470.0, representing a critical denial of service weakness that remote attackers can exploit to disrupt system operations. This vulnerability specifically targets the Diego containerization system within Cloud Foundry's platform architecture, which serves as the core component responsible for managing application containers and their lifecycle operations. The flaw manifests in how the system handles certain container lifecycle events, particularly during the termination and cleanup phases of container processes. The affected versions demonstrate a failure in proper resource management and state handling that can be triggered through crafted malicious requests or abnormal container termination sequences. This vulnerability falls under the category of improper handling of system resources and can be classified as a CWE-400 weakness related to resource exhaustion or improper resource management within distributed containerized environments.
The technical implementation of this denial of service vulnerability stems from inadequate validation and error handling within Diego's container lifecycle management functions. When containers are terminated or when specific system events occur during container operation, the system fails to properly clean up associated resources or handle exceptional conditions. Attackers can leverage this weakness by sending specially crafted requests that trigger container termination sequences in a manner that causes the Diego cell processes to become unresponsive or crash entirely. The flaw is particularly concerning because it operates at the infrastructure level of Cloud Foundry deployments, affecting the fundamental container management capabilities that application developers and platform operators rely upon. This creates cascading effects throughout the platform as affected Diego cells become unavailable and must be manually restarted or replaced, disrupting service availability for all applications running on those cells.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-3091 extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass broader platform reliability and availability concerns for Cloud Foundry deployments. Organizations running affected versions of Diego experience potential downtime for applications hosted on compromised cells, with the severity of impact varying based on deployment architecture and the number of affected Diego instances. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication or specific privileges, making it particularly dangerous for publicly accessible Cloud Foundry platforms. From an attacker perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-impact vector that can be automated and scaled across multiple deployments. The vulnerability also creates opportunities for more sophisticated attacks that could leverage the denial of service as a precursor to additional exploitation attempts. The weakness affects both the stability of the container platform and the overall reliability of application deployments, potentially leading to service degradation that impacts end users and business operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-3091 primarily focus on immediate version upgrades to patched releases of Cloud Foundry Diego, specifically versions beyond 0.1470.0 where the vulnerability has been addressed. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect abnormal container termination patterns or resource consumption spikes that might indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process requires careful planning to avoid disrupting active application deployments during the upgrade process, often necessitating staged rollouts across multiple Diego cell groups. System administrators should also implement network-level controls and access restrictions to limit exposure of Diego components to untrusted networks, while maintaining proper logging and alerting mechanisms for container lifecycle events. From a security hardening perspective, organizations should review and validate their container orchestration workflows to ensure proper resource cleanup and error handling mechanisms are in place. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining up-to-date container platforms and implementing robust security practices in cloud-native environments. This weakness aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 related to network denial of service, and specifically demonstrates how container management flaws can create persistent availability issues in modern cloud platforms. Organizations should also consider implementing automated patch management solutions to ensure timely deployment of security updates across their Cloud Foundry environments.