CVE-2016-8278 in USG9520
Summary
by MITRE
Huawei USG9520, USG9560, and USG9580 unified security gateways with software before V300R001C01SPCa00 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device restart) via an unspecified URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-8278 affects Huawei USG9520, USG9560, and USG9580 unified security gateways operating on software versions prior to V300R001C01SPCa00. This represents a critical remote code execution and denial of service flaw that could be exploited by attackers without authentication to remotely restart the affected devices. The vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the web management interface of these security appliances, specifically when processing requests to an unspecified URL. The affected devices are widely deployed in enterprise and organizational networks as next-generation firewalls, making this vulnerability particularly concerning from a cybersecurity perspective. These appliances serve as critical network security components that control access and monitor traffic flows, making their availability essential for maintaining network security posture.
The technical flaw manifests in the web server implementation of the affected Huawei security gateways, where insufficient validation of URL parameters allows maliciously crafted requests to trigger unexpected behavior in the device's processing logic. When an attacker sends a specially crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable URL, the device's web interface fails to properly sanitize the input, leading to a buffer overflow condition or other memory corruption issues that ultimately cause the device to crash and restart automatically. This behavior aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers stack-based buffer overflow scenarios. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it allows remote attackers to cause persistent service disruption without requiring any credentials or privileged access, making it a significant threat to network availability and operational continuity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple device restarts, as it can result in complete network service disruption for organizations relying on these security appliances. When the affected devices restart, they lose their current security policies, session states, and network connectivity configurations, potentially creating security gaps that attackers could exploit. The automatic restart behavior means that network administrators may experience intermittent connectivity issues or complete network outages without clear indication of the root cause. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability provides a straightforward method to disrupt network operations and could be used as part of broader attack campaigns targeting specific organizations. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network disruption through service interruption, and represents a significant risk to business continuity and network resilience.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided security patches and firmware updates that address this vulnerability. The affected Huawei devices should be upgraded to software version V300R001C01SPCa00 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for the URL processing logic. Network administrators should also consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to this vulnerability, while monitoring for suspicious network traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additional defensive measures include configuring firewall rules to restrict access to the web management interfaces from trusted networks only and implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security firmware and conducting regular vulnerability assessments of network infrastructure components to prevent similar issues from compromising organizational security postures.