CVE-2017-8162 in AR120-S
Summary
by MITRE
AR120-S with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR1200 with software V200R006C10, V200R006C13, V200R007C00, V200R007C01, V200R007C02, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR1200-S with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR150 with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R007C01, V200R007C02, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR150-S with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR160 with software V200R006C10, V200R006C12, V200R007C00, V200R007C01, V200R007C02, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR200 with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R007C01, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR200-S with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR2200 with software V200R006C10, V200R006C13, V200R006C16PWE, V200R007C00, V200R007C01, V200R007C02, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR2200-S with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR3200 with software V200R006C10, V200R006C11, V200R007C00, V200R007C01, V200R007C02, V200R008C00, V200R008C10, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,AR510 with software V200R006C10, V200R006C12, V200R006C13, V200R006C15, V200R006C16, V200R006C17, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,NetEngine16EX with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,SMC2.0 with software V100R003C10, V100R005C00, V500R002C00, V600R006C00,SRG1300 with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R007C02, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,SRG2300 with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R007C02, V200R008C20, V200R008C30,SRG3300 with software V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, V200R008C30 have a DoS vulnerability. Due to incorrect malformed message processing logic, an authenticated, remote attacker could send specially crafted message to the target device.Successful exploit of the vulnerability could cause stack overflow and make a service unavailable.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/16/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-8162 represents a denial of service weakness affecting multiple Huawei networking devices and software platforms including AR120-S, AR1200 series, AR150, AR160, AR200, AR2200, AR3200, AR510, NetEngine16EX, SMC2.0, SRG1300, SRG2300, and SRG3300 models. This vulnerability stems from improper handling of malformed network messages within the device's processing logic, creating a condition where specially crafted packets can trigger unexpected behavior in the system's memory management mechanisms. The affected software versions span across multiple releases including V200R006C10, V200R007C00, V200R008C20, and V200R008C30, indicating this flaw has persisted across several iterations of the firmware. The vulnerability operates at the network protocol level where the device fails to properly validate incoming message structures, allowing an attacker to craft packets that exploit the device's message parsing routines. When such malformed messages are processed, they cause the system to attempt operations that exceed allocated stack memory boundaries, resulting in stack overflow conditions that ultimately lead to service disruption. This weakness directly maps to CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The authenticated remote nature of the exploit means that an attacker must first establish valid credentials to access the device's management interfaces or network services, but once authenticated, they can leverage this vulnerability to cause system instability and service unavailability.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-8162 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the overall network infrastructure reliability. When exploited successfully, the stack overflow condition can cause the affected device to crash completely, requiring manual intervention for system recovery and potentially leading to extended network outages. Network administrators may experience cascading failures if the vulnerable device serves as a critical routing or security component within the network topology. The vulnerability's presence across multiple device families indicates a systemic flaw in the software architecture rather than isolated component issues, suggesting that organizations with heterogeneous network environments may face widespread impact. The fact that this vulnerability affects both hardware platforms and software versions demonstrates the importance of comprehensive vulnerability management across entire network ecosystems. Organizations may observe increased system maintenance requirements and potential security incident response overhead as they work to identify and remediate affected devices. The authenticated nature of the attack requires organizations to maintain strict access controls and credential management practices, as compromised accounts could provide attackers with direct access to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple software releases also indicates that organizations may need to conduct thorough inventory assessments to identify all potentially affected devices within their network infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-8162 should prioritize immediate firmware updates from Huawei to address the root cause of the malformed message processing flaw. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access control measures to limit the attack surface, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access vulnerable management interfaces. Network monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on malformed packet detection and anomalous service behavior. The implementation of rate limiting and message validation controls can help reduce the effectiveness of exploitation attempts by limiting the volume of potentially malicious packets that reach vulnerable systems. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining instances of affected software versions, while maintaining updated inventories of all network devices and their respective firmware versions. Network administrators should establish incident response procedures specifically addressing denial of service vulnerabilities, including automated alerting mechanisms for service disruption events. The vulnerability's classification as a remote authenticated attack means that organizations must also focus on credential security practices, including regular password rotation, multi-factor authentication implementation, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network access control lists and firewall rules to restrict access to management interfaces from trusted networks only, reducing the likelihood of successful exploitation. Security teams should also prepare for potential emergency patch deployment procedures and maintain backup configurations to facilitate rapid recovery in case of successful exploitation attempts.