CVE-2019-5293 in Product
Summary
by MITRE
Some Huawei products have a memory leak vulnerability when handling some messages. A remote attacker with operation privilege could exploit the vulnerability by sending specific messages continuously. Successful exploit may cause some service to be abnormal.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/14/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-5293 represents a memory leak issue affecting multiple Huawei product lines that process message handling operations. This flaw resides within the core messaging infrastructure of affected devices, creating a persistent resource consumption problem that can degrade system performance over time. The vulnerability manifests when the system processes specific message patterns, causing memory allocation to occur without proper deallocation, leading to progressive memory exhaustion. According to the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog, this vulnerability maps to CWE-401: Improper Release of Memory Before Removing Last Reference, which classifies it as a memory management flaw that directly impacts system stability and availability. The issue affects Huawei's network infrastructure equipment including routers, switches, and other communication devices that handle high-volume message processing.
The technical exploitation of CVE-2019-5293 requires a remote attacker with operational privileges to continuously send specially crafted messages to the vulnerable system. This attack vector leverages the system's failure to properly manage memory resources during message processing, creating a condition where allocated memory blocks are not released back to the system's available pool. The attacker can maintain persistent resource consumption by repeatedly sending these specific message patterns, gradually exhausting the device's memory capacity. The attack does not require authentication for execution, as it operates at the message handling layer where the system processes incoming communications. The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with the MITRE ATT&CK framework's T1499.004 technique, specifically "Resource Hijacking: Unusual Service Execution," where malicious actors exploit system resources to disrupt normal operations. The memory leak occurs during the message processing lifecycle, particularly when the system handles malformed or specially constructed message payloads that trigger improper memory management routines.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple performance degradation to potentially causing complete service disruption across affected Huawei network infrastructure. As memory consumption increases, system responsiveness decreases, leading to delayed message processing, connection timeouts, and ultimately service unavailability. Network devices may experience complete system crashes or require manual intervention to restore normal operations. The cascading effect of memory exhaustion can impact multiple services running on the same platform, as the system's overall memory pool becomes depleted. Organizations utilizing affected Huawei equipment face significant operational risks including network outages, service interruptions, and potential data loss during critical communication periods. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers can exploit it from external networks without requiring physical access to the affected devices, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise and service provider networks that rely on Huawei infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-5293 should prioritize immediate firmware updates from Huawei, as the company has released patches addressing the memory leak issue. Network administrators should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory consumption patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on memory usage trends over time. The implementation of rate limiting and message filtering mechanisms can help reduce the impact of continuous message flooding attacks by limiting the volume of messages processed within specific time periods. Security teams should establish baseline memory usage metrics for affected devices and configure automated alerts when memory consumption exceeds normal operational thresholds. Additionally, network segmentation strategies can limit the scope of potential exploitation by isolating vulnerable devices from critical network segments. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and block specific message patterns associated with the vulnerability. The remediation process requires careful planning to avoid service disruptions during patch deployment, particularly in mission-critical environments where continuous availability is essential for business operations.