CVE-2016-6177 in OceanStor 5800
Summary
by MITRE
The Huawei OceanStor 5800 V300R003C00 has an integer overflow vulnerability. An authenticated attacker may send massive abnormal Network File System (NFS) packets, causing an anomaly in specific disk arrays.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/24/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-6177 affects Huawei OceanStor 5800 V300R003C00 storage systems and represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the Network File System implementation. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation in the NFS packet processing mechanism, where the system fails to properly handle oversized or malformed integer values in network requests. The flaw exists in the storage array's handling of NFS protocol communications and specifically manifests when processing abnormal packet structures that exceed normal integer boundaries. The integer overflow occurs during the parsing of NFS request parameters, particularly in fields that define file operations, block sizes, or other numerical identifiers within the network protocol. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-190 as an integer overflow error, which represents a well-known weakness in software systems where arithmetic operations produce values that exceed the maximum representable value for the data type. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it requires only authenticated access to exploit, meaning that an attacker with valid credentials can trigger the condition without requiring additional privileges or network access.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple system instability to potentially compromise the entire storage infrastructure. When an authenticated attacker sends specially crafted NFS packets containing oversized integer values, the system experiences memory corruption that can lead to unpredictable behavior including system crashes, application termination, or even complete system reboot. The specific disk arrays affected by this vulnerability may experience data integrity issues or become temporarily unavailable during the overflow condition. The integer overflow can also create opportunities for privilege escalation or information disclosure if the corrupted memory segments contain sensitive data or control structures. The vulnerability affects the storage array's ability to maintain consistent service availability and can be leveraged to create denial-of-service conditions that impact business-critical applications relying on the storage system. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to technique T1499.004 for network denial-of-service and potentially T1068 for local privilege escalation if the overflow leads to memory corruption that can be exploited further. The attack vector requires network access to the storage system and valid authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in environments where storage administrators have broad access privileges.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-6177 should focus on both immediate defensive measures and long-term system hardening approaches. Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided security patches released for the Huawei OceanStor 5800 V300R003C00 system, which address the integer overflow condition in the NFS processing code. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit the attack surface by restricting NFS access to only authorized systems and users. The implementation of network monitoring solutions can help detect anomalous NFS packet patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual packet sizes or malformed request structures. System administrators should conduct regular security assessments of storage configurations to identify and remediate any unnecessary NFS services or weak authentication mechanisms. Additional defensive measures include implementing rate limiting for NFS requests, configuring proper logging and alerting for system crashes or abnormal behavior, and maintaining up-to-date backups of critical data to ensure business continuity in case of successful exploitation. The vulnerability highlights the importance of input validation and proper error handling in network protocol implementations, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security testing of storage array firmware and network services. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems specifically tuned to monitor for NFS-related attacks and establish incident response procedures for handling potential exploitation attempts targeting storage infrastructure components.