CVE-2017-17312 in USG2205BSR
Summary
by MITRE
Some Huawei Firewall products USG2205BSR V300R001C10SPC600; USG2220BSR V300R001C00; USG5120BSR V300R001C00; USG5150BSR V300R001C00 have a DoS vulnerability in the IPSEC IKEv1 implementations of Huawei Firewall products. Due to improper handling of the malformed messages, an attacker may sent crafted packets to the affected device to exploit these vulnerabilities. Successful exploit the vulnerability could lead to device deny of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/04/2023
The CVE-2017-17312 vulnerability represents a critical denial of service weakness discovered in Huawei Firewall products including the USG2205BSR V300R001C10SPC600, USG2220BSR V300R001C00, USG5120BSR V300R001C00, and USG5150BSR V300R001C00 models. This vulnerability specifically targets the IPSEC IKEv1 implementation within these firewall devices, exposing them to potential exploitation through crafted malicious packets. The issue stems from inadequate validation and processing of malformed IKE messages that occur during the Internet Key Exchange protocol negotiation phase, which is fundamental to establishing secure IPSEC tunnels between network devices. The vulnerability exists at the protocol level where the firewall fails to properly handle unexpected or malformed message structures that could be sent by an attacker, leading to system instability and complete service disruption.
The technical flaw manifests in the improper state handling and input validation mechanisms within the IKEv1 processing modules of the affected Huawei firewall models. When these devices receive malformed IKEv1 messages, particularly during the initial exchange phase of the IPSEC negotiation process, the system lacks adequate error handling routines to gracefully process or reject such malformed packets. This weakness allows attackers to craft specific packet sequences that trigger buffer overflows, memory corruption, or state machine failures within the IKE processing engine. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-248, which addresses "Uncaught Exception" conditions in software implementations, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The exploitation mechanism relies on sending specially crafted IKE messages that cause the firewall to enter an unrecoverable state, effectively rendering the device unable to process legitimate network traffic or establish new IPSEC connections.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass significant business continuity risks for organizations relying on these firewall devices for network security. When successfully exploited, the DoS condition can result in complete network isolation, as IPSEC tunnels used for secure communications between network segments become unavailable. This affects critical infrastructure components that depend on encrypted communication channels, potentially exposing network traffic to interception and unauthorized access. The vulnerability affects the core security functionality of the firewalls, meaning that during an attack, the device may stop processing legitimate traffic entirely, creating a security gap that attackers could exploit further. Organizations using these specific firewall models face potential regulatory compliance issues, as the DoS condition could prevent proper logging and monitoring of network activities, undermining security posture and audit readiness.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-17312 should focus on immediate patch deployment from Huawei, as the vendor released security updates specifically addressing the IKEv1 message handling flaws. Network administrators should implement network segmentation to limit exposure of affected devices to untrusted networks and deploy intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious IKE traffic patterns. Configuration changes such as disabling unused IPSEC features and implementing strict access controls on IKE ports can reduce the attack surface. Organizations should also establish monitoring procedures to detect unusual traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, including monitoring for repeated connection attempts or malformed IKE messages. The ATT&CK framework suggests implementing defensive measures such as network traffic filtering and implementing firewall rules that restrict IKE protocol access to trusted sources only. Additionally, maintaining detailed network diagrams and access control lists helps ensure that only authorized systems can initiate IPSEC negotiations, reducing the likelihood of successful exploitation while providing clear audit trails for security incident investigations.