A vulnerability in management interface access control list (ACL) configuration of Cisco NX-OS System Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured ACLs on the management interface. This could allow traffic to be forwarded to the NX-OS CPU for processing, leading to high CPU utilization and a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a bad code fix in the 7.3.2 code train that could allow traffic to the management interface to be misclassified and not match the proper configured ACLs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted traffic to the management interface. An exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the configured management interface ACLs and impact the CPU of the targeted device, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects the following Cisco products running Cisco NX-OS System Software: Multilayer Director Switches, Nexus 2000 Series Switches, Nexus 3000 Series Switches, Nexus 5500 Platform Switches, Nexus 5600 Platform Switches, Nexus 6000 Series Switches, Nexus 7000 Series Switches, Nexus 7700 Series Switches, Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvf31132.
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource, thereby enabling an actor to influence the amount of resources consumed, eventually leading to the exhaustion of available resources.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nx-os | Cisco | 7.3(2)n1(0.6) (including) | 7.3(2)n1(0.6) (including) |
| Nx-os | Cisco | 8.3(0)kms(0.31) (including) | 8.3(0)kms(0.31) (including) |
| Nx-os | Cisco | 8.8(3.5)s0 (including) | 8.8(3.5)s0 (including) |
Limited resources include memory, file system storage, database connection pool entries, and CPU. If an attacker can trigger the allocation of these limited resources, but the number or size of the resources is not controlled, then the attacker could cause a denial of service that consumes all available resources. This would prevent valid users from accessing the product, and it could potentially have an impact on the surrounding environment. For example, a memory exhaustion attack against an application could slow down the application as well as its host operating system. There are at least three distinct scenarios which can commonly lead to resource exhaustion:
Resource exhaustion problems are often result due to an incorrect implementation of the following situations:
Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:
The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.
The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.