CVE-2016-9579 in Ceph
Summary
by MITRE
A flaw was found in the way Ceph Object Gateway would process cross-origin HTTP requests if the CORS policy was set to allow origin on a bucket. A remote unauthenticated attacker could use this flaw to cause denial of service by sending a specially-crafted cross-origin HTTP request. Ceph branches 1.3.x and 2.x are affected.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/29/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9579 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the Ceph Object Gateway component, specifically affecting versions 1.3.x and 2.x of the Ceph storage system. This issue manifests when the Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) policy is configured to permit requests from any origin on a particular bucket. The flaw exploits a fundamental weakness in how the gateway processes HTTP requests, creating a pathway for malicious actors to disrupt service availability without requiring authentication credentials. The Ceph Object Gateway serves as a crucial interface for object storage operations, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on distributed storage solutions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the CORS handling mechanism of the Ceph gateway. When a bucket's CORS policy allows requests from any origin, the system fails to properly sanitize or validate incoming cross-origin requests, leading to a condition where specially crafted HTTP requests can trigger resource exhaustion or memory corruption. This processing flaw allows attackers to construct malicious requests that exploit the gateway's response handling logic, causing the system to consume excessive computational resources or enter an unstable state. The vulnerability operates at the HTTP protocol level and leverages the inherent trust model of CORS policies, making it particularly insidious as it requires no authentication to exploit.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-9579 extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can effectively render the entire Ceph storage infrastructure unavailable to legitimate users. Attackers can repeatedly send malicious CORS requests to cause sustained denial of service conditions, potentially leading to complete system outages that affect data availability and business continuity. Organizations utilizing Ceph for critical storage operations face significant risk, as the vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring any prior access or credentials. The affected Ceph branches represent a substantial portion of enterprise deployments, making this flaw particularly widespread and dangerous. This vulnerability directly aligns with attack patterns documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the denial of service category, specifically targeting the availability aspect of the CIA triad.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-9579 primarily focus on implementing proper CORS policy configurations and system updates. Organizations should immediately review and tighten their CORS policies to avoid using wildcard origins, instead specifying exact origins that require access to the buckets. The recommended approach involves configuring CORS policies to explicitly list trusted origins rather than allowing all origins, thereby preventing the exploitation vector. Additionally, implementing network-level firewalls and access controls can help limit exposure to this vulnerability by restricting access to the Ceph gateway endpoints. The most effective long-term solution requires upgrading to patched versions of Ceph that address this specific flaw in the CORS processing logic. Security teams should also consider implementing monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual patterns of CORS requests that may indicate exploitation attempts. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and the principle of least privilege in security design, as outlined in CWE categories related to improper input validation and insecure default configurations.