CVE-2018-2396 in Internet Graphics Server
Summary
by MITRE
Under certain conditions a malicious user can prevent legitimate users from accessing the SAP Internet Graphics Server (IGS), 7.20, 7.20EXT, 7.45, 7.49, 7.53, using IGS Interpreter service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/05/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2396 represents a significant denial of service weakness within SAP Internet Graphics Server implementations across multiple versions including 7.20, 7.20EXT, 7.45, 7.49, and 7.53. This flaw specifically targets the IGS Interpreter service component that handles graphic processing requests within the SAP ecosystem. The vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation mechanisms that allow malicious actors to craft specially formatted requests designed to overwhelm or disrupt the service functionality. Such conditions create an environment where legitimate users experience complete loss of access to critical graphic rendering capabilities that many business applications depend upon for proper operation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate sanitization of user-supplied data within the IGS Interpreter service. When malicious users submit crafted inputs through the service interface, the system fails to properly validate or reject potentially harmful requests before processing them. This processing failure creates a condition where the interpreter service becomes overwhelmed with malformed requests that either consume excessive system resources or trigger unexpected behavior patterns. The flaw operates at the application layer and specifically affects how the service handles graphic-related requests that are processed through the interpreter component. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, as the malicious input leads to excessive consumption of system resources without proper bounds checking or resource management.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-2396 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise entire business processes that rely on SAP graphic rendering capabilities. Organizations utilizing affected SAP versions may experience complete loss of access to graphic services, which could affect reporting systems, document generation, user interfaces, and various other applications that depend on the IGS functionality. The vulnerability creates a persistent threat where legitimate users cannot access critical business applications that require graphic processing, leading to productivity losses and potential revenue impacts. This type of denial of service attack aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004: Endpoint Denial of Service, which specifically addresses attacks targeting application availability through resource exhaustion or service disruption.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patch application from SAP as the primary defense mechanism. Organizations must ensure their SAP systems are updated to versions that contain the specific fixes for the IGS Interpreter service vulnerability. Network-level protections including firewall rules and rate limiting mechanisms can provide additional defense in depth by limiting the volume of requests that can be processed by the affected service. Implementing input validation controls at the application boundary can help filter out potentially malicious requests before they reach the vulnerable interpreter service. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of requests that may indicate exploitation attempts. According to industry best practices and SAP security recommendations, organizations should also implement proper access controls and authentication mechanisms to limit exposure of the vulnerable service to untrusted users. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper resource management within enterprise applications to prevent exploitation of service-level vulnerabilities that can lead to complete system availability compromise.