Insufficient Control of Network Message Volume (Network Amplification)

Description

The product does not sufficiently monitor or control transmitted network traffic volume, so that an actor can cause the product to transmit more traffic than should be allowed for that actor.

Extended Description

In the absence of a policy to restrict asymmetric resource consumption, the application or system cannot distinguish between legitimate transmissions and traffic intended to serve as an amplifying attack on target systems. Systems can often be configured to restrict the amount of traffic sent out on behalf of a client, based on the client's origin or access level. This is usually defined in a resource allocation policy. In the absence of a mechanism to keep track of transmissions, the system or application can be easily abused to transmit asymmetrically greater traffic than the request or client should be permitted to.

Common Consequences 1

Scope: Availability

Impact: DoS: AmplificationDoS: Crash, Exit, or RestartDoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)

System resources can be quickly consumed leading to poor application performance or system crash. This may affect network performance and could be used to attack other systems and applications relying on network performance.

Potential Mitigations 3

Phase: Architecture and Design

Strategy: Separation of Privilege

An application must make network resources available to a client commensurate with the client's access level.

Phase: Policy

Define a clear policy for network resource allocation and consumption.

Phase: Implementation

An application must, at all times, keep track of network resources and meter their usage appropriately.

Demonstrative Examples 1

ID : DX-113

This code listens on a port for DNS requests and sends the result to the requesting address.

Code Example:Bad
Python
python

This code sends a DNS record to a requesting IP address. UDP allows the source IP address to be easily changed ('spoofed'), thus allowing an attacker to redirect responses to a target, which may be then be overwhelmed by the network traffic.

Observed Examples 5

CVE-1999-0513Classic "Smurf" attack, using spoofed ICMP packets to broadcast addresses.

CVE-1999-1379DNS query with spoofed source address causes more traffic to be returned to spoofed address than was sent by the attacker.

CVE-2000-0041Large datagrams are sent in response to malformed datagrams.

CVE-1999-1066Game server sends a large amount.

CVE-2013-5211composite: NTP feature generates large responses (high amplification factor) with spoofed UDP source addresses.

Applicable Platforms

Languages:

Not Language-Specific : Undetermined

Modes of Introduction

Operation

Architecture and Design

Implementation

Related Weaknesses

ChildOf:

Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification) (CWE-405)

Taxonomy Mapping

PLOVER

Notes

RelationshipThis can be resultant from weaknesses that simplify spoofing attacks.

TheoreticalNetwork amplification, when performed with spoofing, is normally a multi-channel attack from attacker (acting as user) to amplifier, and amplifier to victim.