CVE-2017-9790 in Mesos
Summary
by MITRE
When handling a libprocess message wrapped in an HTTP request, libprocess in Apache Mesos before 1.1.3, 1.2.x before 1.2.2, 1.3.x before 1.3.1, and 1.4.0-dev crashes if the request path is empty, because the parser assumes the request path always starts with '/'. A malicious actor can therefore cause a denial of service of Mesos masters rendering the Mesos-controlled cluster inoperable.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/14/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-9790 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Apache Mesos distributed computing framework. This issue affects multiple versions of the Mesos master component, specifically targeting the libprocess messaging infrastructure that handles HTTP requests. The vulnerability stems from an insufficient input validation mechanism that fails to properly handle malformed HTTP request paths, creating a condition where the system crashes when encountering empty request paths. The flaw exists in the HTTP request parsing logic where the system assumes all request paths begin with a forward slash character, a fundamental assumption that breaks down when the path is empty or malformed. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-129, Input Validation and Sanitization, specifically addressing improper validation of input data that leads to system instability.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal effort from an attacker as it only necessitates sending a specially crafted HTTP request to the Mesos master component. The crash occurs during the message processing phase when libprocess attempts to parse an HTTP request with an empty path component, causing the master process to terminate unexpectedly. This behavior creates a cascading effect on the entire Mesos cluster as the master node becomes unavailable, disrupting the coordination and resource management capabilities that the framework provides to distributed applications. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic buffer over-read or null pointer dereference pattern where the system fails to properly validate the input before proceeding with processing operations. According to ATT&CK framework, this represents a denial of service attack using resource exhaustion techniques that target the availability of critical system components.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-9790 extends far beyond simple service disruption, as it can completely incapacitate Mesos-controlled clusters that rely on the master node for orchestration. When the master crashes, it affects all slave nodes that depend on it for task scheduling, resource allocation, and cluster coordination. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in production environments where Mesos clusters manage critical workloads and applications. The crash results in immediate service unavailability without any recovery mechanism, forcing administrators to manually restart the master processes and potentially leading to task loss or restart delays. Organizations using Apache Mesos for large-scale distributed computing environments face significant operational risk when this vulnerability remains unpatched, as the attack can be executed remotely without authentication requirements. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the Mesos framework and demonstrates the importance of robust input validation in distributed systems where a single point of failure can compromise entire clusters.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-9790 focus primarily on applying the vendor-provided security patches that address the input validation flaw in libprocess. Organizations should immediately upgrade to Apache Mesos versions 1.1.3, 1.2.2, 1.3.1, or the stable 1.4.0 release to eliminate this vulnerability. Network-level protections such as firewalls and API gateways can be configured to filter malformed HTTP requests before they reach the Mesos master components, providing an additional layer of defense. Implementing monitoring and alerting systems that detect unexpected master process crashes can help identify exploitation attempts and trigger automated recovery procedures. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing rate limiting and request validation mechanisms at the network perimeter to prevent abuse of the vulnerable endpoint. The vulnerability highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of distributed systems and proper input validation across all components that handle external communications. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should include thorough testing of parsing and message handling components to prevent similar issues in other distributed systems.