CVE-2024-35116: IBM MQ Denial of Service Vulnerability

CVE-2024-35116 Overview

CVE-2024-35116 is a denial of service vulnerability affecting IBM MQ messaging middleware. The vulnerability is caused by an error that occurs when applying configuration changes to the message queue system. An attacker can exploit this flaw remotely without authentication to disrupt message queue operations, potentially causing significant impact to enterprise applications that depend on IBM MQ for reliable message delivery.

Critical Impact
This vulnerability enables remote attackers to cause denial of service conditions in IBM MQ deployments, disrupting critical enterprise messaging infrastructure without requiring authentication or user interaction.

Affected Products

IBM MQ 9.0 LTS
IBM MQ 9.1 LTS
IBM MQ 9.2 LTS
IBM MQ 9.3 LTS
IBM MQ 9.3 CD (Continuous Delivery)

Discovery Timeline

2024-06-28 - CVE-2024-35116 published to NVD
2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-35116

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under the category of Denial of Service through resource exhaustion. The flaw is associated with CWE-789 (Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value) and CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling), indicating that the vulnerability involves improper handling of resource allocation during configuration change operations.

The attack vector is network-based, meaning remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability without requiring any special privileges or user interaction. When triggered, the vulnerability causes the IBM MQ service to become unresponsive, impacting the availability of message queue operations but not affecting data confidentiality or integrity.

Enterprise environments running IBM MQ for inter-application communication, transaction processing, or event-driven architectures are particularly at risk, as a successful denial of service attack could disrupt business-critical workflows.

Root Cause

The vulnerability stems from improper error handling during the configuration change process in IBM MQ. When certain configuration changes are applied, the system fails to properly manage resource allocation, leading to conditions where the service can become unavailable. The associated CWE classifications (CWE-789 and CWE-770) suggest that the system does not adequately limit or control memory allocation during these operations.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network against exposed IBM MQ instances. An attacker does not need authentication or any privileges to exploit this vulnerability. The attack complexity is low, and no user interaction is required, making this a straightforward vulnerability to exploit once a target is identified.

The vulnerability is triggered by sending specially crafted requests that cause errors during configuration change processing. The resulting denial of service affects the availability of the IBM MQ service, potentially disrupting all applications dependent on the message queue infrastructure.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-35116

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected IBM MQ service restarts or unresponsiveness during normal operations
Abnormal memory consumption patterns in IBM MQ processes
Configuration change errors appearing in IBM MQ error logs
Unusual network traffic patterns targeting IBM MQ ports (default: 1414)

Detection Strategies

Monitor IBM MQ error logs for configuration change failures and unexpected service disruptions
Implement network monitoring to detect unusual connection patterns to MQ listener ports
Configure alerts for IBM MQ service availability and response time degradation
Deploy intrusion detection rules to identify potential denial of service attack patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable detailed logging for IBM MQ configuration change operations
Set up service health monitoring with automated alerts for availability issues
Monitor system resource utilization (CPU, memory) on IBM MQ hosts for abnormal spikes
Implement baseline alerting for normal MQ message throughput to detect service degradation

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-35116

Immediate Actions Required

Review IBM security bulletins and apply available patches immediately
Restrict network access to IBM MQ listeners to authorized clients only
Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of MQ infrastructure
Enable enhanced monitoring and logging during the remediation period

Patch Information

IBM has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Administrators should review the official IBM security advisories for detailed patching instructions:

Apply the appropriate fix pack or interim fix for your IBM MQ version (9.0 LTS, 9.1 LTS, 9.2 LTS, 9.3 LTS, or 9.3 CD) as documented in the IBM support pages.

Workarounds

Implement firewall rules to restrict access to IBM MQ ports from untrusted networks
Use network segmentation to isolate IBM MQ infrastructure from internet-facing systems
Configure IBM MQ channel authentication records (CHLAUTH) to limit connections to known clients
Consider placing IBM MQ behind a reverse proxy or load balancer with rate limiting capabilities
Enable IP filtering on the MQ listener to accept connections only from authorized source addresses

bash

# Example: Configure firewall rules to restrict IBM MQ access (Linux iptables)
# Allow MQ traffic only from trusted application servers
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 1414 -s 10.0.1.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 1414 -j DROP

# Verify IBM MQ version to determine patch requirements
dspmqver