CVE-2023-37295: Critical Heap Memory Corruption Vulnerability in AMI’s SPx

Overview

The cybersecurity community has recently identified a critical vulnerability, CVE-2023-37295, affecting AMI’s SPx system. This vulnerability lies in the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), a crucial component for remote system management. If successfully exploited, an attacker could cause heap memory corruption over an adjacent network. This could lead to severe consequences such as system compromise and data leakage, thus posing a significant threat to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected systems.
The severity of this vulnerability and its potential impact on a large number of systems make it a matter of urgent attention for all organizations and individuals using AMI’s SPx systems. Prompt action is needed to mitigate this risk and protect vital systems and data.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2023-37295
Severity: Critical (8.3 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

AMI’s SPx | All versions prior to the patched version

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability is a result of a flaw in the heap memory management within the BMC of AMI’s SPx systems. An attacker can send specially crafted network packets to the BMC, causing memory corruption and thereby gaining the ability to execute arbitrary code or cause a Denial of Service (DoS). This provides the attacker with the potential to compromise the system and access sensitive data.

Conceptual Example Code

An attacker might exploit this vulnerability with a malicious network packet, as illustrated below:

POST /BMC/endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
{ "heap_corruption_payload": "...malicious code..." }

In this conceptual example, the attacker sends a POST request to the BMC endpoint of the targeted system. The body of the request contains a malicious payload designed to corrupt the heap memory, potentially giving the attacker control over the system or access to sensitive data.

Mitigations

Users of affected AMI’s SPx versions are advised to apply the latest vendor patches promptly. If not feasible immediately, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as a temporary mitigation measure to detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, these are only temporary solutions and do not fix the underlying vulnerability. Therefore, installing the vendor patch as soon as possible is strongly recommended.