Following the initial publication of the Security Advisory about a denial of service (DoS) condition in Cisco Crosswork Network Controller and Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO), additional information has been made available to the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT).
Upon further analysis, the Cisco PSIRT has reclassified this issue as a customer-configurable, resource management issue rather than a security vulnerability.
Weakness
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
Potential Mitigations
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.
Related Attack Patterns
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/147.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/227.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/492.html