CVE-2017-8201 in Max Presence
Summary
by MITRE
MAX PRESENCE V100R001C00, TP3106 V100R002C00, TP3206 V100R002C00 have an a memory leak vulnerability in H323 protocol. An attacker logs in to the system as a user and send crafted packets to the affected products. Due to insufficient verification of the packets, successful exploit could cause a memory leak and eventual denial of service (DoS) condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/16/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-8201 affects Huawei MAX PRESENCE V100R001C00 and TP3106 V100R002C00, TP3206 V100R002C00 devices that implement the H323 protocol for video conferencing and communication services. This memory leak vulnerability exists within the protocol handling mechanisms of these telepresence systems, which are commonly deployed in enterprise and institutional environments for secure video communication. The affected devices operate as part of unified communications infrastructure, making them attractive targets for attackers seeking to disrupt critical business operations or communication services.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient validation of incoming H323 protocol packets that are processed by the affected Huawei devices. When an authenticated attacker sends specially crafted packets to the system, the device fails to properly validate the packet structure and content before processing. This lack of proper input validation creates a condition where memory allocated for processing these packets is not properly freed or managed, leading to progressive memory consumption over time. The vulnerability stems from a failure to implement adequate bounds checking and packet sanitization routines within the H323 protocol stack, allowing malicious packet structures to trigger memory allocation without corresponding deallocation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple resource exhaustion, as it can lead to complete service disruption for users relying on these telepresence systems. When the memory leak occurs, the affected device gradually consumes available system memory until it reaches a critical threshold, at which point the system becomes unresponsive or crashes entirely. This denial of service condition affects not only the device itself but also the broader communication infrastructure it supports, potentially disrupting critical business meetings, emergency response communications, or educational video conferencing sessions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it requires only authenticated access to exploit, meaning that an attacker who has obtained legitimate user credentials can initiate the attack without requiring additional privileges.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-401: "Improper Release of Memory Before Removal from Heap" and represents a classic example of resource management failure in network protocol implementations. The attack pattern follows typical denial of service methodologies documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1499.004 technique for "Endpoint Denial of Service" and potentially T1566.001 for "Phishing with Malicious Attachment" if the initial compromise involves credential theft. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to limit access to these devices, implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for anomalous H323 traffic patterns, and applying vendor security patches as soon as they become available. Regular monitoring of system memory usage and network traffic analysis should be conducted to detect early signs of exploitation attempts, as the memory leak may be gradual and not immediately apparent to system administrators.