CVE-2018-10868 in redhat-certification
Summary
by MITRE • 05/26/2021
It has been discovered that redhat-certification does not properly limit the number of recursive definitions of entities in XML documents while parsing the status of a host. A remote attacker could use this vulnerability to consume all the memory of the server and cause a Denial of Service. This flaw affects redhat-certification version 7.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10868 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the redhat-certification software version 7 implementation. This flaw manifests in the XML parsing mechanism where the system fails to properly enforce limits on recursive entity definitions within XML documents. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and resource management during the processing of host status information, creating an exploitable condition that allows malicious actors to manipulate the parsing behavior through crafted XML content.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes it as an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption flaw. The redhat-certification application processes XML documents containing entity references without implementing proper recursion depth limits or memory consumption thresholds. When a remote attacker submits a specially crafted XML document with deeply nested or circular entity references, the parser enters an infinite recursive loop or consumes excessive memory resources. This recursive processing continues until system memory is exhausted, leading to complete service disruption and denial of legitimate access to certification services.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption, as it provides attackers with a straightforward method to compromise system availability through resource exhaustion. The affected redhat-certification version 7 represents a critical attack surface since it processes host status information that may originate from untrusted sources in networked environments. Attackers can exploit this weakness without requiring authentication or specialized privileges, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where certification services must remain available for legitimate operations.
From an adversarial perspective, this vulnerability maps to several ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation through resource exhaustion and service disruption. The attack vector involves sending malicious XML content to the certification service, which then processes the document and consumes system resources until the server becomes unresponsive. The exploitation requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated, making it attractive to threat actors seeking to disrupt certification operations. Organizations utilizing redhat-certification version 7 face significant risk of operational disruption and potential business impact due to the ease of exploitation and the critical nature of certification services.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing strict XML parsing controls and resource limiting mechanisms. System administrators should apply the latest security patches provided by Red Hat to address this vulnerability, while also implementing XML validation policies that enforce maximum entity expansion limits. Network-level controls including XML firewall rules and rate limiting can help reduce exposure, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual memory consumption patterns. The implementation of proper input sanitization and resource quotas for XML processing operations will significantly reduce the attack surface and prevent exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing automated alerting mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts and maintain detailed logging of XML processing activities for forensic analysis.