Vulnerability Note VU#512193

IBM Director fails to properly time-out connection requests from clients

When a rogue connection request is made to IBM Director Systems, specifically the CIM Server, a thread is created that listens on a port, waiting for a specific response from the client. If the client does not send the expected response, the thread remains in memory listening, indicating a high CPU utilization until the client connects to it. If multiple rogue clients connect simultaneously, the finite number of connections can be exhausted causing server to crash.

Versions 5.20.1 and earlier for Windows and Linux are affected.

II. Impact

Download and Apply the patch for Windows and Linux systems here:
https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/preLogin.do?source=dmp

Block or restrict access

Employ other protection mechanisms that will restrict access to the Director Systems by installing firewalls, defining filters, or by using reverse proxies.

Systems Affected

https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/preLogin.do?source=dmp
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/management/director/

Credit

Thanks to IBM for reporting this vulnerability, who in turn credit Juniper Networks.

This document was written by Will Dormann.

Other Information

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