CVE-2019-4055 in IBM
Summary
by MITRE
IBM MQ 8.0.0.0 through 8.0.0.10, 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.0.5, and 9.1.0.0 through 9.1.1 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack within the TLS key renegotiation function. IBM X-Force ID: 156564.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2023
IBM MQ versions 8.0.0.0 through 8.0.0.10, 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.0.5, and 9.1.0.0 through 9.1.1 contain a denial of service vulnerability in the Transport Layer Security key renegotiation functionality that can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt service availability. This vulnerability specifically affects the TLS implementation within IBM MQ's secure communication protocols, where the system fails to properly handle certain key renegotiation sequences that could be crafted by malicious actors. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation and state management during the TLS key renegotiation process, creating an opportunity for attackers to send malformed renegotiation requests that cause the MQ service to become unresponsive or crash entirely. This issue represents a critical weakness in the cryptographic handshake mechanism that IBM MQ employs to secure message transmission between clients and servers, potentially allowing adversaries to perform sustained denial of service attacks against messaging infrastructure. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes improper input validation in software systems, and demonstrates how cryptographic protocol implementations can introduce systemic weaknesses when not properly hardened against malformed input sequences. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability can be exploited through network-based attacks where malicious actors send specially crafted TLS renegotiation messages to target IBM MQ instances, causing the service to consume excessive resources or enter an unstable state. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as it can affect message queuing operations, potentially leading to data loss or system instability in environments where IBM MQ serves as a critical messaging backbone. Organizations using affected IBM MQ versions face significant risk of service disruption, particularly in high-availability environments where continuous message processing is essential for business operations. The vulnerability can be leveraged by attackers to perform resource exhaustion attacks, where repeated renegotiation attempts consume system memory and processing power, ultimately leading to complete service unavailability. This represents a clear violation of the availability principle in the CIA triad and can be categorized under the MITRE ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. IBM has addressed this vulnerability through subsequent security patches and updates that strengthen the TLS renegotiation handling within the messaging system. The fix involves implementing proper input validation for renegotiation requests and adding additional state management checks to prevent malformed sequences from causing system instability. Organizations should prioritize applying these patches to their IBM MQ installations, particularly in environments where security and availability are paramount considerations. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper cryptographic protocol implementation and the need for comprehensive testing of security features in messaging systems. Network administrators should monitor for unusual TLS renegotiation activity and implement appropriate intrusion detection measures to identify potential exploitation attempts. The affected versions of IBM MQ represent a significant risk to enterprise messaging infrastructure, particularly in financial services, healthcare, and other regulated industries where message reliability and availability are mission-critical requirements. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the potential for cryptographic protocol weaknesses to introduce security gaps that can be exploited to compromise service availability, emphasizing the need for robust security testing and validation of cryptographic implementations in enterprise messaging systems.