CVE-2018-6317 in Dual Miner
Summary
by MITRE
The remote management interface in Claymore Dual Miner 10.5 and earlier is vulnerable to an unauthenticated format string vulnerability, allowing remote attackers to read memory or cause a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/16/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-6317 affects the remote management interface of Claymore Dual Miner version 10.5 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity and availability of mining operations. This issue manifests as an unauthenticated format string vulnerability within the remote management component, which serves as a gateway for administrative access to the mining hardware. The remote management interface is designed to allow operators to monitor and control mining activities from distant locations, but this particular vulnerability creates an exploitable entry point that bypasses normal authentication mechanisms.
The technical flaw stems from improper input validation within the remote management interface where user-supplied data is directly processed through format string functions without adequate sanitization. This vulnerability falls under the category of CWE-134, which specifically addresses the use of format strings without proper validation, making it susceptible to both information disclosure and denial of service attacks. When an attacker crafts malicious input that contains format specifiers such as %s, %x, or %n, the vulnerable application processes these without proper bounds checking, leading to unintended memory access patterns. The format string vulnerability allows attackers to read arbitrary memory locations, potentially exposing sensitive information such as passwords, cryptographic keys, or system configurations that may be stored in memory.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it provides attackers with the capability to cause denial of service conditions that can severely disrupt mining operations. Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability to crash the management interface or even the entire mining application, resulting in operational downtime that directly translates to financial losses for mining operations. The unauthenticated nature of the exploit means that any remote attacker with access to the network can potentially exploit this vulnerability without requiring legitimate credentials, making it particularly dangerous in environments where mining hardware is exposed to public networks. This vulnerability affects the availability of critical management functions and can lead to complete operational disruption of mining activities.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-6317 should prioritize immediate patching of the affected Claymore Dual Miner software to version 10.6 or later, which includes proper input validation and format string handling. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to restrict access to the remote management interface to trusted networks only, while also enforcing strong authentication mechanisms. Additionally, organizations should monitor network traffic for suspicious patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, particularly looking for malformed requests containing format specifiers. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of secure coding practices and input validation in network-facing applications, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other network components, while implementing proper network monitoring and intrusion detection systems to detect and respond to exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing network access controls and firewall rules to limit exposure of mining hardware to untrusted networks, thereby reducing the attack surface available to potential adversaries.