CVE-2017-17164 in Secospace AntiDDoS8000
Summary
by MITRE
Huawei Secospace AntiDDoS8000 V500R001C20SPC500 have a memory leak vulnerability due to memory don't be released when the system open some function. An attacker could exploit it to cause memory leak, which may further lead to system exceptions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/08/2023
The Huawei Secospace AntiDDoS8000 V500R001C20SPC500 represents a critical network security appliance designed to protect against distributed denial-of-service attacks. This device operates as a sophisticated traffic monitoring and mitigation system that processes large volumes of network data to identify and neutralize malicious traffic patterns. The vulnerability resides within the memory management mechanisms of this security appliance, specifically when certain functions are activated within the system architecture. The device's operational environment requires continuous memory allocation for processing network packets, maintaining connection states, and executing security policies. When specific functional modules are engaged, the system fails to properly release allocated memory segments back to the operating system, creating a persistent memory consumption issue that accumulates over time.
This memory leak vulnerability directly corresponds to CWE-401, which classifies memory leaks as a fundamental weakness in memory management where allocated resources are not properly deallocated. The flaw manifests when the AntiDDoS8000 system opens particular functions that trigger memory allocation sequences without subsequent deallocation processes. The affected system components likely include traffic analysis modules, connection tracking mechanisms, and protocol parsing engines that require dynamic memory allocation for their operations. The memory allocation process occurs during normal system operation when these functions are enabled, but the cleanup procedures fail to execute properly, resulting in a gradual depletion of available memory resources. This behavior creates a deterministic degradation pattern where the system's performance deteriorates progressively as more memory becomes consumed by unreleased allocations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple resource exhaustion to potentially compromise the entire security infrastructure of the network environment. As memory consumption increases, the system may experience performance degradation that affects its ability to process network traffic effectively, potentially leading to missed attack detections or delayed response times. The memory leak could eventually cause system instability, leading to unexpected restarts or complete system failures that would leave the network environment unprotected against DDoS attacks. Network administrators might observe gradual performance degradation, increased latency in traffic processing, or intermittent service disruptions that could be misdiagnosed as other network issues. The vulnerability particularly affects the device's ability to maintain continuous operation under sustained traffic loads, which is critical for effective DDoS protection services.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention from system administrators and security teams responsible for network infrastructure protection. The primary recommendation involves applying the vendor-provided security patches or firmware updates that address the specific memory management flaw in the affected software version. Organizations should implement monitoring procedures to track memory consumption patterns and establish alert thresholds that notify administrators when memory usage exceeds normal operational parameters. Network segmentation and traffic monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect unusual behavior patterns that might indicate memory exhaustion issues. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing temporary workarounds such as limiting the activation of specific functions that trigger the memory leak, or scheduling regular system restarts to clear accumulated memory allocations. The remediation process should also include comprehensive testing of the patched system to ensure that the memory leak vulnerability has been successfully resolved without introducing new compatibility issues or operational disruptions that could affect the device's core security functionality.