A vulnerability in the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) implementation in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a memory leak on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to incorrect processing of certain OSPF packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a series of crafted OSPF packets to be processed by an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to continuously consume memory on an affected device and eventually cause it to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firepower_threat_defense | Cisco | 6.4.0 (including) | 6.4.0.9 (excluding) |
| Firepower_threat_defense | Cisco | 6.5.0 (including) | 6.5.0.5 (excluding) |
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.