CVE-2017-0179 in Hyper-V
Summary
by MITRE
A denial of service vulnerability exists when Microsoft Hyper-V running on a Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016 host server fails to properly validate input from a privileged user on a guest operating system, aka "Hyper-V Denial of Service Vulnerability." This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2017-0178, CVE-2017-0182, CVE-2017-0183, CVE-2017-0184, CVE-2017-0185, and CVE-2017-0186.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/29/2020
The CVE-2017-0179 vulnerability represents a critical denial of service flaw within Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization platform that affects multiple Windows operating systems including Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within the Hyper-V hypervisor when processing privileged user inputs from guest operating systems, creating a pathway for malicious actors to disrupt system operations. The flaw specifically manifests when a privileged guest user executes crafted input sequences that bypass normal validation checks, ultimately leading to system instability and potential service interruption. This vulnerability operates at the hypervisor level, making it particularly dangerous as it can affect the entire virtualization infrastructure and all virtual machines running on the compromised host.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a failure in the Hyper-V input validation subsystem where privileged guest users can manipulate specific data structures or control flows that should be properly sanitized before processing. This weakness allows attackers to craft malicious inputs that, when executed within the guest environment, can trigger unexpected behavior in the host hypervisor. The vulnerability falls under CWE-20, which describes "Improper Input Validation," and represents a classic case of insufficient validation leading to system instability. The flaw enables a privilege escalation scenario where a guest user with limited access can potentially cause the host system to crash or become unresponsive, effectively creating a denial of service condition that impacts all virtualized workloads.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to enterprise environments that rely heavily on Hyper-V virtualization for their computing infrastructure. Organizations running multiple virtual machines on affected hosts could experience service disruption when malicious inputs are processed, potentially affecting critical business applications and services. The vulnerability's exploitation can lead to complete system outages requiring manual intervention and system restarts, resulting in productivity losses and potential data availability issues. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1499.004 which covers "Cloud Compute Disruption" and T1068 which addresses "Exploitation for Privilege Escalation," demonstrating how this flaw can be leveraged to gain unauthorized control over virtualized environments. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as it can compromise the integrity of the entire virtualization platform, affecting all VMs hosted on the vulnerable system.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-0179 should focus on immediate patch application from Microsoft, which addresses the input validation issues within Hyper-V components. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit guest user privileges and reduce the attack surface available to potential exploiters. Additionally, monitoring systems should be deployed to detect unusual input patterns or resource consumption spikes that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing hypervisor-level access controls and privilege management policies to limit guest user capabilities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation in virtualization environments and underscores the need for comprehensive security testing of hypervisor components. Regular vulnerability assessments and security audits of virtualization platforms should be conducted to identify similar validation gaps that could lead to similar denial of service conditions. Organizations should also maintain robust incident response procedures specifically designed for virtualization platform compromises to ensure rapid recovery and minimal business impact when such vulnerabilities are exploited.