Security Bulletin: Multiple vulnerabilities in Network Time Protocol (NTP) affect IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700 (CVE-2015-7848, CVE-2015-7855)

Summary

There are multiple vulnerabilities in the Network Time Protocol (NTP) implementation embedded within the IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2015-7848**
DESCRIPTION:** Network Time Protocol (NTP) is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by an multiple integer overflows when processing malicious packets. By sending a specially crafted private mode packet, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause the application to crash.
CVSS Base Score: 5.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/107443 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)

CVEID: CVE-2015-7855**
DESCRIPTION:** Network Time Protocol (NTP) is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by ASSERT botch instead of returning FAIL on some invalid values by the decodenetnum() function. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause a denial of service.
CVSS Base Score: 5.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/107448 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)

Affected Products and Versions

All versions of microcode for the IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700 (3957-V06, 3957-V07, 3957-VEA, 3957-VEB, 3957-VEC) prior to and including the following are affected:

Machine Type

| Model|Version
—|—|—
3957| V06| 8.21.0.178
3957| VEA| 8.21.0.178
3957| V07| 8.41.101.10
3957| VEB| 8.41.101.10
3957| VEC| 8.41.101.10

Remediation/Fixes

Contact IBM Service at 1-800-IBM-SERV to arrange an upgrade to the latest microcode version followed by the installation of vtd_exec.XXX as needed. Minimum microcode versions are shown below:

Machine Type

| Model|Fix
—|—|—
3957| V06| Upgrade to 8.21.0.178 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
3957| VEA| Upgrade to 8.21.0.178 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
3957| V07| Upgrade to 8.33.2.9 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.40.1.16 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.41.100.15 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.41.101.10 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
3957| VEB| Upgrade to 8.33.2.9 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.40.1.16 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.41.100.15 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.41.101.10 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
3957| VEC| Upgrade to 8.40.1.16 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.41.100.15 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279
-OR-
Upgrade to 8.41.101.10 + VTD_EXEC.103 + VTD_EXEC.279

The minimum VTD_EXEC version is shown below:

Workarounds and Mitigations

Although IBM recommends that you upgrade to the fixes identified above, you can mitigate, but not eliminate the risk of these vulnerabilities by restricting physical and network access to the TS7700 to authorized users and IBM Service Personnel only.