CVE-2024-38296 in Edge Gateway 5200
Summary
by MITRE • 11/22/2024
Dell Edge Gateway 5200 (Coffee Lake S), versions prior to 12.0.94.2380, contains an Exposure of Sensitive Information in Shared Microarchitectural Structures during Transient Execution vulnerability. A high privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to information exposure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/22/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-38296 affects Dell Edge Gateway 5200 devices equipped with Coffee Lake S processors and operating software versions prior to 12.0.94.2380. This represents a critical security flaw that resides within the microarchitectural design of the affected hardware platform, specifically targeting the transient execution mechanisms that are fundamental to modern processor architectures. The vulnerability falls under the category of information exposure, where sensitive data may be inadvertently revealed through shared microarchitectural resources during the execution of transient instructions. The Dell Edge Gateway 5200 serves as a network edge device that typically handles critical industrial and IoT workloads, making the exposure of sensitive information particularly concerning for organizations relying on these systems for operational technology infrastructure.
This vulnerability exploits the inherent characteristics of modern processors that utilize out-of-order execution and speculative execution mechanisms to improve performance. During transient execution phases, processors may share microarchitectural structures such as caches, branch predictors, and register files among different execution contexts. The flaw allows an attacker to potentially extract sensitive information that should remain isolated between different execution contexts. The vulnerability is classified as a variant of side-channel attacks that leverage microarchitectural information leakage, specifically targeting the shared structures that are utilized during the transient execution window. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the architectural level rather than the software level, making it more difficult to detect and mitigate through traditional software-based approaches.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations deploying Dell Edge Gateway 5200 devices in industrial and enterprise environments. A high privileged attacker with local access to the device can potentially exploit this vulnerability to extract sensitive data that may include cryptographic keys, authentication credentials, or other confidential information processed by the system. The attack vector requires local access, which limits the scope to attackers who already have some level of system access, but the potential for information exposure remains severe given the nature of the microarchitectural flaw. The vulnerability affects the device's security posture by weakening the isolation guarantees that should exist between different execution contexts within the processor's microarchitecture. Organizations using these edge devices may face risks to their operational technology infrastructure, particularly in environments where these gateways handle sensitive operational data or serve as part of critical industrial control systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-38296 should focus on updating the affected Dell Edge Gateway 5200 devices to version 12.0.94.2380 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the microarchitectural information exposure issue. Additionally, organizations should implement comprehensive access controls to limit local system access and monitor for suspicious activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-203, which describes the exposure of sensitive information through side-channel analysis, and represents a specific instance of the broader class of transient execution vulnerabilities that have been documented in various processor architectures. Security teams should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring to detect potential information leakage attempts. The mitigation approach should include regular vulnerability assessments and security updates to ensure that all edge devices remain protected against similar microarchitectural flaws that may be discovered in the future. Organizations should also review their operational procedures to ensure that local access controls are properly enforced and that privileged accounts are adequately protected against potential exploitation attempts.