CVE-2018-7093 in Integrated Lights-Out 3
Summary
by MITRE
A security vulnerability in HPE Integrated Lights-Out 3 prior to v1.90, iLO 4 prior to v2.60, iLO 5 prior to v1.30, Moonshot Chassis Manager firmware prior to v1.58, and Moonshot Component Pack prior to v2.55 could be remotely exploited to create a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/02/2023
The vulnerability described in CVE-2018-7093 represents a critical remote denial of service weakness affecting HPE's integrated lights-out management systems across multiple firmware versions. This security flaw impacts HPE Integrated Lights-Out 3 systems before version 1.90, iLO 4 systems before version 2.60, iLO 5 systems before version 1.30, Moonshot Chassis Manager firmware before version 1.58, and Moonshot Component Pack before version 2.55. The vulnerability resides in the remote management capabilities of these systems, which are essential for out-of-band system administration and monitoring in enterprise data centers and cloud environments.
The technical flaw manifests through improper input validation within the remote management interfaces of these systems, allowing attackers to craft malicious payloads that can trigger system instability or complete system shutdown. This weakness enables remote exploitation without requiring authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by attackers from anywhere on the network. The vulnerability specifically affects the handling of certain management protocol requests and commands that are processed by the integrated lights-out firmware components. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-129 Input Validation, as it fails to properly validate input parameters received through remote management interfaces, combined with CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, which describes the potential for resource exhaustion leading to system unavailability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it compromises the fundamental availability of critical system management functions. When exploited successfully, the denial of service condition can render remote management capabilities completely inoperable, preventing administrators from accessing systems for maintenance, monitoring, or troubleshooting activities. This creates significant operational challenges for data center administrators who rely on these management interfaces for system oversight, particularly in large-scale deployments where multiple systems may be simultaneously affected. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can target these systems from external networks without requiring physical access or network credentials, amplifying the potential impact across enterprise environments. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with T1499.004 Network Denial of Service and T1566.002 Phishing via Social Engineering, as it represents a network-based attack vector that can be leveraged to disrupt system availability and potentially create opportunities for further exploitation.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigation strategies including firmware updates to the latest available versions that contain patches for this specific issue. The affected systems should be isolated from untrusted networks and access to management interfaces should be restricted to authorized personnel only. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to limit access to management ports and protocols, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Additionally, administrators should monitor system logs for unusual activity patterns that might indicate attempted exploitation of this vulnerability. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in the broader IT infrastructure. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of updated firmware in non-production environments before deployment to ensure compatibility and prevent unintended service disruptions.