HTTP/2 Rapid reset attack The HTTP/2 protocol allows clients to indicate to the server that a previous stream should be canceled by sending a RSTSTREAM frame. The protocol does not require the client and server to coordinate the cancellation in any way, the client may do it unilaterally. The client may also assume that the cancellation will take effect immediately when the server receives the RSTSTREAM frame, before any other data from that TCP connection is processed.

Abuse of this feature is called a Rapid Reset attack because it relies on the ability for an endpoint to send a RSTSTREAM frame immediately after sending a request frame, which makes the other endpoint start working and then rapidly resets the request. The request is canceled, but leaves the HTTP/2 connection open.

The HTTP/2 Rapid Reset attack built on this capability is simple: The client opens a large number of streams at once as in the standard HTTP/2 attack, but rather than waiting for a response to each request stream from the server or proxy, the client cancels each request immediately.

The ability to reset streams immediately allows each connection to have an indefinite number of requests in flight. By explicitly canceling the requests, the attacker never exceeds the limit on the number of concurrent open streams. The number of in-flight requests is no longer dependent on the round-trip time (RTT), but only on the available network bandwidth.

In a typical HTTP/2 server implementation, the server will still have to do significant amounts of work for canceled requests, such as allocating new stream data structures, parsing the query and doing header decompression, and mapping the URL to a resource. For reverse proxy implementations, the request may be proxied to the backend server before the RSTSTREAM frame is processed. The client on the other hand paid almost no costs for sending the requests. This creates an exploitable cost asymmetry between the server and the client.

Multiple software artifacts implementing HTTP/2 are affected. This advisory was originally ingested from the swift-nio-http2 repo advisory and their original conent follows.

swift-nio-http2 specific advisory swift-nio-http2 is vulnerable to a denial-of-service vulnerability in which a malicious client can create and then reset a large number of HTTP/2 streams in a short period of time. This causes swift-nio-http2 to commit to a large amount of expensive work which it then throws away, including creating entirely new Channels to serve the traffic. This can easily overwhelm an EventLoop and prevent it from making forward progress.

swift-nio-http2 1.28 contains a remediation for this issue that applies reset counter using a sliding window. This constrains the number of stream resets that may occur in a given window of time. Clients violating this limit will have their connections torn down. This allows clients to continue to cancel streams for legitimate reasons, while constraining malicious actors.

A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the implementation of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Message Digest 5 (MD5) authentication in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass MD5 authentication and establish a BGP connection with the device. The vulnerability occurs because the BGP MD5 authentication is bypassed if the peer does not have MD5 authentication configured, the NX-OS device does have BGP MD5 authentication configured, and the NX-OS BGP virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) name is configured to be greater than 19 characters. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to establish a BGP session with the NX-OS peer. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to establish a BGP session with the NX-OS device without MD5 authentication. The Cisco implementation of the BGP protocol accepts incoming BGP traffic only from explicitly configured peers. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must send the malicious packets over a TCP connection that appears to come from a trusted BGP peer. To do so, the attacker must obtain information about the BGP peers in the affected system’s trusted network.

A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol implementation for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a reload on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the Cisco Discovery Protocol parser does not properly validate input for certain fields in a Cisco Discovery Protocol message. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to an affected device. An successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a stack overflow, which could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges on an affected device. Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent).

A vulnerability in the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) N-port Virtualization (NPV) protocol implementation in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to an incorrect processing of FCoE packets when the fcoe-npv feature is uninstalled. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a stream of FCoE frames from an adjacent host to an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause packet amplification to occur, resulting in the saturation of interfaces and a DoS condition. Nexus 9000 Series Switches in Standalone NX-OS Mode are affected running software versions prior to 7.0(3)I7(5) and 9.2(2).

A vulnerability in the Bash shell implementation for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to bypass the limited command set of the restricted Guest Shell and execute commands at the privilege level of a network-admin user outside of the Guest Shell. The attacker must authenticate with valid administrator device credentials. The vulnerability is due to the incorrect implementation of a CLI command that allows a Bash command to be incorrectly invoked on the Guest Shell CLI. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device and entering a crafted command at the Guest Shell prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to issue commands that should be restricted by a Guest Shell account.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid user credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with the privilege level of root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command on the affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid device credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability. NX-OS versions prior to 8.3(1) are affected. NX-OS versions prior to 8.3(1) are affected.

A vulnerability in the fabric infrastructure VLAN connection establishment of the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Mode Switch Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to bypass security validations and connect an unauthorized server to the infrastructure VLAN. The vulnerability is due to insufficient security requirements during the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) setup phase of the infrastructure VLAN. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious LLDP packet on the adjacent subnet to the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switch in ACI mode. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to connect an unauthorized server to the infrastructure VLAN, which is highly privileged. With a connection to the infrastructure VLAN, the attacker can make unauthorized connections to Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) services or join other host endpoints.

A vulnerability in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) input packet processor of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause the SNMP application on an affected device to restart unexpectedly. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)-encoded variables in SNMP packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted SNMP packet to the SNMP daemon on the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the SNMP application to restart multiple times, leading to a system-level restart and a denial of service (DoS) condition.

A vulnerability in the Virtual Shell (VSH) session management for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a VSH process to fail to delete upon termination. This can lead to a build-up of VSH processes that overtime can deplete system memory. When there is no system memory available, this can cause unexpected system behaviors and crashes. The vulnerability is due to the VSH process not being properly deleted when a remote management connection to the device is disconnected. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by repeatedly performing a remote management connection to the device and terminating the connection in an unexpected manner. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the VSH processes to fail to delete, which can lead to a system-wide denial of service (DoS) condition. The attacker must have valid user credentials to log in to the device using the remote management connection.

A vulnerability in the logic that handles access control to one of the hardware components in Cisco's proprietary Secure Boot implementation could allow an authenticated, local attacker to write a modified firmware image to the component. This vulnerability affects multiple Cisco products that support hardware-based Secure Boot functionality. The vulnerability is due to an improper check on the area of code that manages on-premise updates to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) part of the Secure Boot hardware implementation. An attacker with elevated privileges and access to the underlying operating system that is running on the affected device could exploit this vulnerability by writing a modified firmware image to the FPGA. A successful exploit could either cause the device to become unusable (and require a hardware replacement) or allow tampering with the Secure Boot verification process, which under some circumstances may allow the attacker to install and boot a malicious software image. An attacker will need to fulfill all the following conditions to attempt to exploit this vulnerability: Have privileged administrative access to the device. Be able to access the underlying operating system running on the device; this can be achieved either by using a supported, documented mechanism or by exploiting another vulnerability that would provide an attacker with such access. Develop or have access to a platform-specific exploit. An attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability across multiple affected platforms would need to research each one of those platforms and then develop a platform-specific exploit. Although the research process could be reused across different platforms, an exploit developed for a given hardware platform is unlikely to work on a different hardware platform.

A vulnerability in the implementation of a specific CLI command for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to cause a buffer overflow condition or perform command injection. This could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a certain CLI command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of the affected CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit these vulnerabilities. NX-OS versions prior to 8.3(1) are affected.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with a privilege level of root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command on the affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with valid administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with the privilege level of root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command on the affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the Image Signature Verification feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator-level credentials to install a malicious software image on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because software digital signatures are not properly verified during CLI command execution. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to install an unsigned software image on an affected device.

A vulnerability in the Image Signature Verification feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator-level credentials to install a malicious software image on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because software digital signatures are not properly verified during CLI command execution. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to install an unsigned software image on an affected device.

A vulnerability in the Image Signature Verification feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator-level credentials to install a malicious software image on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because software digital signatures are not properly verified during CLI command execution. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to install an unsigned software image on an affected device.

A vulnerability in the implementation of a specific CLI command for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to cause a buffer overflow condition or perform command injection. This could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a certain CLI command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of the affected CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit these vulnerabilities.

A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with valid administrator or privilege level 15 credentials to load a virtual service image and bypass signature verification on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper signature verification during the installation of an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) image. An authenticated, local attacker could exploit this vulnerability and load a malicious, unsigned OVA image on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to perform code execution on a crafted software OVA image.

A vulnerability in a CLI command related to the virtualization manager (VMAN) in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with root privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific VMAN CLI command on an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with root privileges, which may lead to complete system compromise. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) input packet processor of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the SNMP application to leak system memory, which could cause an affected device to restart unexpectedly. The vulnerability is due to improper error handling when processing inbound SNMP packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending multiple crafted SNMP packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the SNMP application to leak system memory because of an improperly handled error condition during packet processing. Over time, this memory leak could cause the SNMP application to restart multiple times, leading to a system-level restart and a denial of service (DoS) condition.