VMSA-2011-0002

Cisco Nexus 1000V VEM updates address denial of service in VMware ESX/ESXi

1. Summary

Updated versions of the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch address a denial of service in VMware ESX/ESXi.

2. Relevant releases

The following VMware products could be affected by a denial of service vulnerability that is present in older versions of the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch:

• ESXi 4.1
• ESXi 4.0
• ESX 4.1
• ESX 4.0

The following Cisco products have the vulnerability:

• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(3b)
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(3a)
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(3)
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(2)
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(1)

3. Problem Description

a. Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module denial of service
The Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module (VEM) is a virtual switch for ESX and ESXi. This switch can be added to ESX and ESXi where it replaces the VMware virtual switch and runs as part of the ESX and ESXi kernel.

A flaw in the handling of dropped packets by Cisco Nexus 1000V VEM can cause ESX and ESXi to crash.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-0355 to the issue.

The issue is addressed by Cisco in the following releases:

• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.2(4) SV1(4)
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(3c)

For details refer to the release notes of these releases (see section 4 for links).

VMware customers are only affected by this vulnerability if they have chosen to deploy the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch as a replacement for the VMware vNetwork Standard Switch or the VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch.

VMware has confirmed that the VMware vNetwork Standard Switch and the VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch are not affected by the vulnerability.

The issue is documented by Cisco in Cisco bug ID CSCtj17451 (see section 5 for a link).

4. Solution

Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.2(1) SV1(4)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Release notes
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus1000/sw/4_2_1_s_v_1_4/release/notes/n1000v_rn.html

Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Release 4.0(4) SV1(3c)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Release notes
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus1000/sw/4_0_4_s_v_1_3_c/release/notes/n1000v_rn.html.

5. References

CVE numbers

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2011-0355

Cisco bug ID CSCtj17451 (registered Cisco customers only)

http://tools.cisco.com/Support/BugToolKit/search/getBugDetails.do?method=fetchBugDetails&bugId=CSCtj17451

6. Change log

2011-02-07 VMSA-2011-0002
Initial security advisory in conjunction with the release of Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module 1.3c on 2011-02-04.

7. Contact

E-mail list for product security notifications and announcements:
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This Security Advisory is posted to the following lists:

• security-announce at lists.vmware.com
• bugtraq at securityfocus.com
• full-disclosure at lists.grok.org.uk

E-mail: security at vmware.com
PGP key at:
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