CVE-2020-5347 in Isilon OneFS
Summary
by MITRE
Dell EMC Isilon OneFS versions 8.2.2 and earlier contain a denial of service vulnerability. SmartConnect had an error condition that may be triggered to loop, using CPU and potentially preventing other SmartConnect DNS responses.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-5347 affects Dell EMC Isilon OneFS storage systems running versions 8.2.2 and earlier, representing a significant denial of service weakness within the SmartConnect feature implementation. This flaw resides in the DNS response handling mechanism of the SmartConnect service which is designed to provide load balancing and high availability for storage cluster access. The vulnerability manifests when specific error conditions are triggered within the SmartConnect service, causing it to enter an infinite loop that consumes excessive cpu resources.
SmartConnect is a critical component of Dell EMC Isilon systems that provides intelligent load balancing and failover capabilities for storage access. The service operates by managing DNS responses that direct client requests to appropriate storage nodes within the cluster. When this particular vulnerability is exploited, the error handling logic within SmartConnect fails to properly terminate execution paths, resulting in continuous CPU utilization that can escalate to complete service unavailability. This behavior directly violates the fundamental principles of system reliability and availability as defined by industry standards including those outlined in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog under CWE-400 which addresses improper handling of exceptional conditions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple resource exhaustion as it fundamentally compromises the availability of storage services. When the SmartConnect service enters its looping state, it becomes unable to process legitimate DNS queries from clients attempting to access the storage cluster. This creates a cascading effect where storage access becomes unavailable for all clients relying on SmartConnect for load balancing, effectively rendering the storage system inaccessible for business operations. The vulnerability's potential to consume system resources can also impact other services running on the same system, creating broader operational disruption within the data center environment.
From a security perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of robust error handling and resource management within critical system components. The issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which covers network denial of service attacks, though in this case the attack vector is through legitimate system error conditions rather than external network interference. The vulnerability requires minimal privileges to exploit since it targets internal service logic rather than requiring authentication or external network access. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems to prevent potential exploitation, as the vulnerability represents a straightforward path to service disruption without requiring sophisticated attack techniques. The remediation process involves upgrading to Dell EMC Isilon OneFS versions that contain the patched SmartConnect implementation, which addresses the root cause of the infinite loop condition through improved error handling mechanisms.