full-disclosure - Re: Should nmap cause a DoS on cisco routers?

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Message-ID: <59726F65-26B0-46A8-A757-09D445064366@arbor.net>
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2010 11:43:48 +0000
From: "Dobbins, Roland" <rdobbins@...or.net>
To: "full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk" <full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Should nmap cause a DoS on cisco routers?

On Jul 2, 2010, at 5:59 PM, Thierry Zoller wrote:

> If   it   is   a  default  configuration  and you can remotely cause a
> denial of service condition  :  it  is a vulnerability.
> 
> If   it   is   a non standard configuration  and you can remotely cause a
> denial of service condition  :  it  is a vulnerability.

If the DoS is volumetric in nature - i.e., causing lots of packets to be punted to the RP, thus overwhelming the processing of the device and causing it to drop control-plane traffic - that's not a vulnerability, in the classic sense (i.e., a code-based exploit of some kind), especially given that it can be mitigated via BCPs.  

Otherwise, you'd classify any and all DDoS as vulnerabilities, too - and while many of them are in fact *architectural* or *design* flaws, they're still not vulnerabilities in the sense that most of the people on this list use the term.

Having spent a great deal of time concentrating on the 'A' part of the C-I-A triad, I agree with you 100% that A is as important (more important, in my estimation) than the other legs of the triad; but running around claiming that there's some 'vulnerability' which must be patched, when a) we don't know that for a fact, b) it seems rather unlikely, given past experience and the symptoms reported, and c) exhibiting some bizarre antipathy towards implementing industry BCPs doesn't really help, very much.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobbins@...or.net> // <http://www.arbornetworks.com>

    Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.

                        -- H.L. Mencken

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