CVE-2018-5498 in Clustered Data ONTAP
Summary
by MITRE
Clustered Data ONTAP versions 9.0 through 9.4 are susceptible to a vulnerability which allows remote authenticated attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) in NFS and SMB environments. Exploitation of this vulnerability will allow a remote authenticated attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) on affected versions of clustered Data ONTAP configured for multiprotocol access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/07/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-5498 represents a critical denial of service weakness in NetApp's clustered Data ONTAP storage operating system affecting versions 9.0 through 9.4. This flaw specifically targets environments utilizing both Network File System and Server Message Block protocols within multiprotocol configurations, creating a significant operational risk for enterprise storage infrastructures that rely on these services. The vulnerability's classification as a remote authenticated attack means that adversaries need only valid credentials to exploit the weakness, significantly broadening the attack surface compared to local or unauthenticated threats. Organizations utilizing clustered Data ONTAP in production environments face potential disruption of critical data services when this vulnerability is successfully exploited.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the multiprotocol access handling mechanisms of the clustered Data ONTAP system. When authenticated users interact with NFS or SMB services, the system fails to properly validate certain protocol parameters, leading to memory corruption or resource exhaustion conditions that ultimately result in service disruption. This weakness falls under the CWE-129 category of "Improper Validation of Array Index" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service attacks. The flaw manifests when the system processes specific combinations of multiprotocol access requests, causing the affected storage nodes to become unresponsive or crash entirely, thereby interrupting data access for legitimate users.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-5498 extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can compromise business continuity and data availability for organizations relying on clustered Data ONTAP for their storage infrastructure. When exploited, the vulnerability can cause complete service outages across NFS and SMB shares, potentially affecting thousands of users and applications simultaneously. The disruption affects both file-level access protocols, meaning that organizations with hybrid environments using both protocols experience simultaneous service degradation. Recovery from such attacks typically requires manual intervention including system restarts, which can result in extended downtime and potential data consistency issues. The vulnerability's exploitation can also trigger cascading failures in clustered environments where node interdependencies exist, potentially affecting the entire storage cluster rather than isolated components.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying the official NetApp patches released for versions 9.0 through 9.4, which address the underlying validation issues in the multiprotocol access handlers. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit authenticated user access to only necessary storage resources, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Monitoring solutions should be configured to detect unusual patterns of multiprotocol access requests that might indicate attempted exploitation, particularly focusing on rapid succession of NFS and SMB operations. The implementation of intrusion detection systems capable of identifying protocol anomalies and automated response mechanisms can provide additional defense layers. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected clustered Data ONTAP versions and establish incident response procedures specifically tailored to handle denial of service attacks targeting storage infrastructure.