Vulnerabilities > CVE-2005-2970 - Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in multiple products

047910
CVSS 0.0 - NONE
Attack vector
UNKNOWN
Attack complexity
UNKNOWN
Privileges required
UNKNOWN
Confidentiality impact
UNKNOWN
Integrity impact
UNKNOWN
Availability impact
UNKNOWN

Summary

Memory leak in the worker MPM (worker.c) for Apache 2, in certain circumstances, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via aborted connections, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections.

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Locate and Exploit Test APIs
    An attacker exploits a sample, demonstration, or test API that is insecure by default and should not be resident on production systems. Some applications include APIs that are intended to allow an administrator to test and refine their domain. These APIs should usually be disabled once a system enters a production environment. Testing APIs may expose a great deal of diagnostic information intended to aid an administrator, but which can also be used by an attacker to further refine their attack. Moreover, testing APIs may not have adequate security controls or may not have undergone rigorous testing since they were not intended for use in production environments. As such, they may have many flaws and vulnerabilities that would allow an attacker to severely disrupt a target.
  • Flooding
    An attacker consumes the resources of a target by rapidly engaging in a large number of interactions with the target. This type of attack generally exposes a weakness in rate limiting or flow control in management of interactions. Since each request consumes some of the target's resources, if a sufficiently large number of requests must be processed at the same time then the target's resources can be exhausted. The degree to which the attack is successful depends upon the volume of requests in relation to the amount of the resource the target has access to, and other mitigating circumstances such as the target's ability to shift load or acquired additional resources to deal with the depletion. The more protected the resource and the greater the quantity of it that must be consumed, the more resources the attacker may need to have at their disposal. A typical TCP/IP flooding attack is a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack where many machines simultaneously make a large number of requests to a target. Against a target with strong defenses and a large pool of resources, many tens of thousands of attacking machines may be required. When successful this attack prevents legitimate users from accessing the service and can cause the target to crash. This attack differs from resource depletion through leaks or allocations in that the latter attacks do not rely on the volume of requests made to the target but instead focus on manipulation of the target's operations. The key factor in a flooding attack is the number of requests the attacker can make in a given period of time. The greater this number, the more likely an attack is to succeed against a given target.
  • Excessive Allocation
    An attacker causes the target to allocate excessive resources to servicing the attackers' request, thereby reducing the resources available for legitimate services and degrading or denying services. Usually, this attack focuses on memory allocation, but any finite resource on the target could be the attacked, including bandwidth, processing cycles, or other resources. This attack does not attempt to force this allocation through a large number of requests (that would be Resource Depletion through Flooding) but instead uses one or a small number of requests that are carefully formatted to force the target to allocate excessive resources to service this request(s). Often this attack takes advantage of a bug in the target to cause the target to allocate resources vastly beyond what would be needed for a normal request. For example, using an Integer Attack, the attacker could cause a variable that controls allocation for a request to hold an excessively large value. Excessive allocation of resources can render a service degraded or unavailable to legitimate users and can even lead to crashing of the target.
  • XML Ping of the Death
    An attacker initiates a resource depletion attack where a large number of small XML messages are delivered at a sufficiently rapid rate to cause a denial of service or crash of the target. Transactions such as repetitive SOAP transactions can deplete resources faster than a simple flooding attack because of the additional resources used by the SOAP protocol and the resources necessary to process SOAP messages. The transactions used are immaterial as long as they cause resource utilization on the target. In other words, this is a normal flooding attack augmented by using messages that will require extra processing on the target.
  • XML Entity Expansion
    An attacker submits an XML document to a target application where the XML document uses nested entity expansion to produce an excessively large output XML. XML allows the definition of macro-like structures that can be used to simplify the creation of complex structures. However, this capability can be abused to create excessive demands on a processor's CPU and memory. A small number of nested expansions can result in an exponential growth in demands on memory.

Nessus

  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2006-052.NASL
    descriptionThis update includes fixes for three security issues in the Apache HTTP Server. A memory leak in the worker MPM could allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via aborted connections, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project assigned the name CVE-2005-2970 to this issue. This vulnerability only affects users who are using the non-default worker MPM. A flaw in mod_imap when using the Referer directive with image maps was discovered. With certain site configurations, a remote attacker could perform a cross-site scripting attack if a victim can be forced to visit a malicious URL using certain web browsers. (CVE-2005-3352) A NULL pointer dereference flaw in mod_ssl was discovered affecting server configurations where an SSL virtual host is configured with access control and a custom 400 error document. A remote attacker could send a carefully crafted request to trigger this issue which would lead to a crash. This crash would only be a denial of service if using the non-default worker MPM. (CVE-2005-3357) Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id20757
    published2006-01-21
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2006-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/20757
    titleFedora Core 4 : httpd-2.0.54-10.3 (2006-052)
  • NASL familyRed Hat Local Security Checks
    NASL idREDHAT-RHSA-2006-0159.NASL
    descriptionUpdated Apache httpd packages that correct three security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4. This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team. The Apache HTTP Server is a popular and freely-available Web server. A memory leak in the worker MPM could allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via aborted connections, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project assigned the name CVE-2005-2970 to this issue. This vulnerability only affects users who are using the non-default worker MPM. A flaw in mod_imap when using the Referer directive with image maps was discovered. With certain site configurations, a remote attacker could perform a cross-site scripting attack if a victim can be forced to visit a malicious URL using certain web browsers. (CVE-2005-3352) A NULL pointer dereference flaw in mod_ssl was discovered affecting server configurations where an SSL virtual host is configured with access control and a custom 400 error document. A remote attacker could send a carefully crafted request to trigger this issue which would lead to a crash. This crash would only be a denial of service if using the non-default worker MPM. (CVE-2005-3357) Users of httpd should update to these erratum packages which contain backported patches to correct these issues along with some additional bugs.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id20398
    published2006-01-11
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2006-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/20398
    titleRHEL 3 / 4 : httpd (RHSA-2006:0159)
  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-225-1.NASL
    descriptionA memory leak was found in the Apache 2
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id20768
    published2006-01-21
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2005-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2006-2016 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/20768
    titleUbuntu 4.10 / 5.04 / 5.10 : apache2 vulnerability (USN-225-1)
  • NASL familyWeb Servers
    NASL idAPACHE_2_0_55.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host appears to be running a version of Apache that is prior to 2.0.55. It is, therefore affected by multiple vulnerabilities : - A security issue exists where
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id31656
    published2008-03-26
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2008-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/31656
    titleApache < 2.0.55 Multiple Vulnerabilities
  • NASL familyMandriva Local Security Checks
    NASL idMANDRAKE_MDKSA-2005-233.NASL
    descriptionA memory leak in the worker MPM in Apache 2 could allow remote attackers to cause a Denial of Service (memory consumption) via aborted commands in certain circumstances, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections. As well, this update addresses two bugs in the Mandriva 2006 Apache packges where apachectl was missing and also a segfault that occured when using the mod_ldap module.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id20464
    published2006-01-15
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2006-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/20464
    titleMandrake Linux Security Advisory : apache2 (MDKSA-2005:233)
  • NASL familyCentOS Local Security Checks
    NASL idCENTOS_RHSA-2006-0159.NASL
    descriptionUpdated Apache httpd packages that correct three security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4. This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team. The Apache HTTP Server is a popular and freely-available Web server. A memory leak in the worker MPM could allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via aborted connections, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project assigned the name CVE-2005-2970 to this issue. This vulnerability only affects users who are using the non-default worker MPM. A flaw in mod_imap when using the Referer directive with image maps was discovered. With certain site configurations, a remote attacker could perform a cross-site scripting attack if a victim can be forced to visit a malicious URL using certain web browsers. (CVE-2005-3352) A NULL pointer dereference flaw in mod_ssl was discovered affecting server configurations where an SSL virtual host is configured with access control and a custom 400 error document. A remote attacker could send a carefully crafted request to trigger this issue which would lead to a crash. This crash would only be a denial of service if using the non-default worker MPM. (CVE-2005-3357) Users of httpd should update to these erratum packages which contain backported patches to correct these issues along with some additional bugs.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id21884
    published2006-07-03
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2006-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/21884
    titleCentOS 3 / 4 : httpd (CESA-2006:0159)

Oval

accepted2013-04-29T04:00:49.208-04:00
classvulnerability
contributors
  • nameAharon Chernin
    organizationSCAP.com, LLC
  • nameDragos Prisaca
    organizationG2, Inc.
definition_extensions
  • commentThe operating system installed on the system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:11782
  • commentCentOS Linux 3.x
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:16651
  • commentThe operating system installed on the system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:11831
  • commentCentOS Linux 4.x
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:16636
  • commentOracle Linux 4.x
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:15990
descriptionMemory leak in the worker MPM (worker.c) for Apache 2, in certain circumstances, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via aborted connections, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections.
familyunix
idoval:org.mitre.oval:def:10043
statusaccepted
submitted2010-07-09T03:56:16-04:00
titleMemory leak in the worker MPM (worker.c) for Apache 2, in certain circumstances, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via aborted connections, which prevents the memory for the transaction pool from being reused for other connections.
version27

Redhat

advisories
rhsa
idRHSA-2006:0159
rpms
  • httpd-0:2.0.46-56.ent
  • httpd-0:2.0.52-22.ent
  • httpd-debuginfo-0:2.0.46-56.ent
  • httpd-debuginfo-0:2.0.52-22.ent
  • httpd-devel-0:2.0.46-56.ent
  • httpd-devel-0:2.0.52-22.ent
  • httpd-manual-0:2.0.52-22.ent
  • httpd-suexec-0:2.0.52-22.ent
  • mod_ssl-1:2.0.46-56.ent
  • mod_ssl-1:2.0.52-22.ent

Statements

contributorMark J Cox
lastmodified2008-07-02
organizationApache
statementFixed in Apache HTTP Server 2.0.55: http://httpd.apache.org/security/vulnerabilities_20.html

References