CVE-2024-42426 in PowerScale OneFS
Summary
by MITRE • 12/09/2024
Dell PowerScale OneFS Versions 9.5.0.x through 9.8.0.x contain an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability. A low privilege remote attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/21/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-42426 affects Dell PowerScale OneFS storage systems running versions 9.5.0.x through 9.8.0.x, representing a critical uncontrolled resource consumption flaw that can be exploited by low privilege remote attackers to achieve denial of service conditions. This vulnerability resides within the storage operating system's resource management mechanisms, where insufficient bounds checking or resource allocation controls allow malicious actors to consume excessive system resources without proper authorization. The affected versions encompass a significant portion of Dell's storage platform releases, indicating this issue likely impacts numerous enterprise storage deployments across various industries including healthcare, finance, and government sectors where data availability is paramount. The vulnerability specifically targets the system's ability to manage and allocate computational resources, potentially leading to system instability and complete service interruption.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through remote network-based attacks that leverage the storage system's exposed interfaces and protocols. Attackers can craft specific requests or operations that trigger excessive resource consumption patterns within the OneFS operating system, potentially consuming memory, CPU cycles, or other critical system resources at rates that exceed normal operational thresholds. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-400, which categorizes uncontrolled resource consumption as a weakness where applications fail to properly manage resource allocation and deallocation, leading to resource exhaustion. The attack vector requires minimal privileges and can be executed remotely, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where storage systems are often accessible over network boundaries. The system's failure to implement adequate resource monitoring and limiting mechanisms allows the attacker to progressively consume resources until the system becomes unresponsive or crashes entirely.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-42426 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise business continuity and data availability for organizations relying on Dell PowerScale storage infrastructure. When exploited successfully, this vulnerability can lead to complete denial of service conditions where authorized users cannot access critical storage resources, resulting in production downtime, data access delays, and potential financial losses. The vulnerability affects storage systems that may serve as primary data repositories for enterprise applications, databases, and critical business processes, making the impact multiplier significant. Organizations may experience cascading effects where storage unavailability impacts backup systems, disaster recovery procedures, and overall IT infrastructure stability. The remote exploit capability means that attackers can target these systems from outside the corporate network, potentially leveraging automated scanning tools to identify vulnerable installations and exploit them without requiring physical access or elevated privileges.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patch deployment from Dell, as the manufacturer likely released security updates addressing the resource consumption controls. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of storage systems to untrusted networks, reducing the attack surface available to potential attackers. Monitoring and logging configurations should be enhanced to detect unusual resource consumption patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, utilizing security information and event management systems to identify anomalous behavior. The implementation of rate limiting and resource allocation controls within the storage system configuration can provide additional defense in depth. Organizations should also conduct vulnerability assessments to identify all affected systems within their environment and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing storage system denial of service conditions. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which covers network denial of service, and represents a critical security gap that requires immediate attention to maintain enterprise storage infrastructure integrity and availability.