CVE-2017-14581 in NetWeaver AS JAVA
Summary
by MITRE
The Host Control web service in SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.0 through 7.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (service crash) via a crafted request, aka SAP Security Note 2389181.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/17/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-14581 affects the Host Control web service component within SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java versions 7.0 through 7.5. This represents a critical denial of service weakness that enables remote attackers to disrupt service availability by submitting specially crafted requests to the affected system. The vulnerability resides in the web service implementation that processes incoming requests through the Host Control interface, which is a fundamental component for system management and monitoring operations.
The technical flaw manifests through improper input validation and request handling within the Host Control web service. When a malicious actor submits a crafted request containing malformed data or unexpected parameters, the service fails to properly process these inputs and subsequently crashes or becomes unresponsive. This occurs due to inadequate error handling mechanisms and insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data before processing. The vulnerability falls under CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and specifically relates to CWE-400, indicating an unchecked resource consumption issue that leads to service disruption.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption as it can severely affect business continuity and system availability for organizations relying on SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA. Attackers can exploit this weakness to repeatedly crash the Host Control web service, leading to extended downtime and potential cascading failures throughout the SAP landscape. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors do not require physical access or local system credentials, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous for systems exposed to external networks. This weakness directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks through service disruption.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including applying the relevant SAP security note 2389181 patch, which provides the necessary code fixes to properly validate and sanitize incoming requests. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to the Host Control web service to only trusted administrative networks and IP addresses. Additionally, monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect anomalous request patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and error handling in web services, as outlined in industry best practices for secure coding and the OWASP Top Ten security risks. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the SAP environment.