CVE-2024-48809: Opennetworking Onos-a1t DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2024-48809 Overview

CVE-2024-48809 is a denial of service vulnerability in the Open Networking Foundation sdran-in-a-box v1.4.3 and onos-a1t v0.2.3 components. The flaw resides in the DeleteWatcher function of the onos-a1t component used within the SD-RAN (Software-Defined Radio Access Network) deployment. A remote attacker can trigger the condition over the network without authentication or user interaction. The vulnerability is categorized under [CWE-770] (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling).

Critical Impact
Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exhaust resources in the onos-a1t component, disrupting A1 interface operations and degrading SD-RAN control plane availability.

Affected Products

Open Networking Foundation onos-a1t version 0.2.3
Open Networking Foundation sdran-in-a-box version 1.4.3
SD-RAN deployments embedding the vulnerable onos-a1t build

Discovery Timeline

2024-11-04 - CVE-2024-48809 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-48809

Vulnerability Analysis

The defect lives in the DeleteWatcher function inside onos-a1t, the A1 termination component of the ONOS-based SD-RAN stack. The A1 interface mediates policy and enrichment information between the non-real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and the near-real-time RIC. A remote attacker reaching the A1 endpoint can drive the watcher subsystem into a state that exhausts resources, rendering the service unresponsive. Because the attack vector is network-based and requires no authentication, any actor with reachability to the onos-a1t service can trigger the condition.

Root Cause

The weakness maps to [CWE-770], Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. The DeleteWatcher routine does not enforce bounds on watcher allocation or cleanup, allowing repeated invocations to consume memory or goroutines without release. Without throttling or quotas, an attacker forces the process into a resource-starved state.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends crafted requests to the A1 termination endpoint exposed by onos-a1t. Repeated interaction with the watcher creation and deletion paths drives unbounded resource consumption inside the service. No credentials, prior access, or user interaction are required. The realistic impact is a sustained denial of service against the SD-RAN control plane component.

No verified proof-of-concept code is published. Refer to the GitHub Issue Discussion and the GitHub Gist Security Note for technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-48809

Indicators of Compromise

Sudden growth in memory or goroutine count within the onos-a1t process without a corresponding workload increase
Repeated A1 watcher create/delete request bursts from a single source toward the onos-a1t endpoint
onos-a1t pod restarts, OOMKilled events, or liveness probe failures in the Kubernetes cluster running SD-RAN

Detection Strategies

Inspect ingress logs and network flows to the onos-a1t service for anomalous request rates targeting watcher endpoints
Correlate container resource telemetry with A1 interface request volume to surface resource-to-request mismatches
Alert on repeated DeleteWatcher invocations from non-authorized network peers using service mesh or API gateway telemetry

Monitoring Recommendations

Track CPU, memory, and goroutine metrics for onos-a1t pods and trigger alerts on sustained upward trends
Forward Kubernetes events and onos-a1t application logs to a centralized data lake for behavioral analysis
Baseline normal A1 interface traffic patterns so deviations against DeleteWatcher calls are detected quickly

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-48809

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network exposure of the onos-a1t A1 endpoint to trusted RIC components using network policies or firewalls
Place rate limiting in front of the A1 interface via service mesh or API gateway controls
Monitor onos-a1t resource consumption and enforce Kubernetes resource limits to contain the impact of exhaustion

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the NVD entry for sdran-in-a-box v1.4.3 or onos-a1t v0.2.3 at the time of publication. Track the GitHub Issue Discussion for fixes and upgrade to a release that addresses the unbounded watcher allocation in DeleteWatcher when available.

Workarounds

Isolate onos-a1t on a dedicated network segment reachable only by authorized non-RT and near-RT RIC components
Apply Kubernetes NetworkPolicy rules and mutual TLS at the service mesh layer to block untrusted callers
Enforce strict CPU and memory limits on the onos-a1t pod so resource exhaustion does not cascade to other workloads
Deploy an external rate limiter to cap the number of watcher create/delete operations per source per interval

bash

# Example Kubernetes NetworkPolicy restricting access to onos-a1t
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: restrict-onos-a1t
  namespace: sdran
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: onos-a1t
  policyTypes:
    - Ingress
  ingress:
    - from:
        - podSelector:
            matchLabels:
              ric-role: trusted
      ports:
        - protocol: TCP
          port: 9639