CVE-2021-3384 in Network Security
Summary
by MITRE • 03/03/2021
A vulnerability in Stormshield Network Security could allow an attacker to trigger a protection related to ARP/NDP tables management, which would temporarily prevent the system to contact new hosts via IPv4 or IPv6. This affects versions 2.0.0 to 2.7.7, 2.8.0 to 2.16.0, 3.0.0 to 3.7.16, 3.8.0 to 3.11.4, and 4.0.0 to 4.1.5. Fixed in versions 2.7.8, 3.7.17, 3.11.5, and 4.2.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/20/2024
This vulnerability resides within Stormshield Network Security appliances and represents a significant denial of service condition affecting network connectivity at the layer three protocol level. The flaw specifically impacts the management of Address Resolution Protocol and Neighbor Discovery Protocol tables, which are fundamental to IPv4 and IPv6 network operations. When exploited, the vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate the system's handling of these critical network tables, leading to temporary disruption of communication with new network hosts. The affected versions span multiple major releases including 2.x through 4.x series, indicating this was a persistent issue across the product lineage. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning as it directly affects the core networking functionality that enables devices to communicate across network boundaries, potentially rendering network segments inaccessible to new connections while maintaining existing sessions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves manipulation of the ARP/NDP table management mechanisms within the Stormshield appliance. According to CWE classification, this would be categorized as a weakness in resource management or memory management, specifically CWE-400, which covers resource exhaustion conditions that can lead to denial of service. The flaw essentially allows an attacker to trigger a condition where the system temporarily becomes unable to resolve new host addresses through either IPv4 or IPv6 protocols, effectively creating a network partitioning effect. The attack vector likely involves sending specially crafted network packets designed to exploit the ARP/NDP table handling logic, causing the system to enter a state where new address resolution requests cannot be processed properly. This represents a sophisticated network-level attack that leverages protocol implementation weaknesses rather than direct system exploitation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple network disruption, as it fundamentally undermines the reliability and availability of network services that depend on dynamic address resolution. Organizations relying on Stormshield appliances for network security would experience temporary but potentially severe connectivity issues, particularly affecting services that require frequent new host connections or dynamic network reconfiguration. The vulnerability affects both IPv4 and IPv6 environments, making it particularly dangerous in mixed protocol networks or transitioning environments where both address families are in use simultaneously. Network administrators would observe intermittent connectivity failures, increased latency in new connection establishment, and potential service degradation that could affect critical business operations. The timing of the vulnerability's exploitation could be particularly damaging during peak network usage periods or when network services are already under stress.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch application to the affected versions, with particular attention to the fixed versions 2.7.8, 3.7.17, 3.11.5, and 4.2.0 which address the underlying ARP/NDP table management flaw. Organizations should also implement network monitoring to detect unusual ARP/NDP table behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts, as well as establish network segmentation strategies that minimize the impact of potential disruptions. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving denial of service and network disruption, specifically T1499.004 for network disruption and T1566.002 for spearphishing with social engineering. Security teams should also consider implementing rate limiting and packet filtering rules that monitor for anomalous ARP/NDP traffic patterns, and maintain detailed network baseline configurations to quickly identify deviations that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining current security patches and the critical nature of protocol implementation security in network infrastructure devices.