CVE-2023-43076 in PowerScale OneFS
Summary
by MITRE • 11/02/2023
Dell PowerScale OneFS 8.2.x,9.0.0.x-9.5.0.x contains a denial-of-service vulnerability. A low privilege remote attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to cause an out of memory (OOM) condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/20/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-43076 affects Dell PowerScale OneFS storage systems across versions 8.2.x through 9.5.0.x, representing a critical denial-of-service weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers with minimal privileges. This issue manifests as an out-of-memory condition that can severely disrupt storage operations and compromise system availability. The vulnerability resides within the storage system's handling of specific network requests or data processing operations, creating a pathway for malicious actors to consume excessive system resources and ultimately render the storage appliance non-responsive. The affected versions span multiple major releases, indicating this flaw has persisted across several iterations of the PowerScale platform, potentially affecting a broad range of enterprise storage deployments. The low privilege requirement for exploitation makes this vulnerability particularly concerning as it can be leveraged by attackers who have minimal access rights to the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a memory management flaw that occurs when the system processes certain types of input or network traffic. Attackers can craft specific requests that trigger excessive memory allocation or consumption patterns within the OneFS operating system, leading to memory exhaustion and subsequent system instability. This type of vulnerability typically falls under the category of resource exhaustion attacks where the attacker systematically consumes available memory resources until the system cannot allocate additional memory for legitimate operations. The out-of-memory condition can cause the storage system to crash, restart unexpectedly, or become unresponsive to legitimate user requests, effectively creating a denial-of-service scenario that impacts data availability and business continuity. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and memory handling practices within the storage system's network processing components.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-43076 extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can compromise the integrity of storage operations and potentially lead to data access issues for legitimate users. Organizations relying on Dell PowerScale systems for critical data storage and backup operations face significant risks when this vulnerability is exploited, as the denial-of-service condition can affect multiple concurrent users and applications accessing the storage infrastructure. The memory exhaustion can also trigger cascading failures within the storage system's internal processes, potentially causing data corruption or loss of access to critical storage volumes. Network administrators and security teams must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability on their storage infrastructure, particularly in environments where continuous availability is essential for business operations. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions suggests that organizations may have been exposed for extended periods without detection, creating potential security gaps in their storage environments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying the latest security patches from Dell, which typically address the underlying memory handling issues in the affected OneFS versions. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit potential attack vectors and reduce the attack surface available to remote threat actors. Monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual memory consumption patterns or network traffic that may indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any additional weaknesses in the storage infrastructure. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for resource exhaustion attacks and CWE-400 for uncontrolled resource consumption, highlighting the need for robust memory management practices and input validation controls. System administrators should also consider implementing automated alerting mechanisms that can detect memory exhaustion conditions and trigger immediate response protocols to minimize the impact of potential exploitation attempts.