CVE-2016-3678 in Quidway
Summary
by MITRE
Huawei Quidway S9700, S5700, S5300, S9300, and S7700 switches with software before V200R003SPH012 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (switch restart) via crafted traffic.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-3678 affects Huawei Quidway series network switches including the S9700 S5700 S5300 S9300 and S7700 models. This critical security flaw exists in firmware versions prior to V200R003SPH012 and represents a remote denial of service vulnerability that can be exploited by attackers positioned outside the network perimeter. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within the switch's packet processing logic which fails to properly handle malformed or crafted network traffic packets. When these switches receive specially constructed packets designed to exploit the vulnerability they become unstable and subsequently restart their network services leading to complete service disruption for network users.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper handling of specific packet formats within the switch's forwarding engine and protocol processing modules. Attackers can craft traffic packets containing malformed headers or unusual payload structures that trigger buffer overflows or state machine inconsistencies within the switch's operating system. This particular vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 buffer overflow category where insufficient bounds checking allows attackers to manipulate memory structures. The switch's failure to validate incoming packet parameters before processing them results in unpredictable behavior that ultimately leads to system crashes and automatic restarts. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires no authentication credentials and can be executed from any remote location capable of sending network traffic to the vulnerable switch.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass potential business continuity risks and network reliability issues. When switches restart due to this vulnerability, all network services dependent on those devices become unavailable until the system recovers and re-establishes network connectivity. Network administrators may experience extended downtime while troubleshooting the issue and the switches undergo automatic restart procedures that can interrupt ongoing network operations. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise networks and data centers that rely heavily on these high-end switches for core network infrastructure. The restart behavior creates a cascading effect where network services dependent on the affected switches experience complete outages until the devices recover, potentially affecting critical applications and business operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-3678 should focus on immediate firmware updates to the affected Huawei switch models to version V200R003SPH012 or later releases that contain the necessary security patches. Network administrators should implement network segmentation and access control measures to limit potential attack vectors and reduce the attack surface for these vulnerable devices. The implementation of intrusion detection systems and network monitoring tools can help detect anomalous traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should establish incident response procedures that include rapid deployment of security patches and system recovery protocols. According to the ATT&CK framework this vulnerability maps to the T1499 technique for network denial of service attacks and represents a significant threat to network infrastructure availability. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting and packet filtering rules at network boundaries to prevent malformed traffic from reaching vulnerable switches while maintaining legitimate network operations.