CVE-2024-38068
Published: 09 July 2024
Summary
CVE-2024-38068 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
Windows Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) Server is affected by CVE-2024-38068, a denial-of-service vulnerability in Windows that carries a CVSS 7.5 rating reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, and no required privileges or user interaction. The weakness is categorized under CWE-400 and can produce a high availability impact while leaving confidentiality and integrity untouched.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted requests over the network to an exposed OCSP server instance, triggering resource exhaustion that renders the service unavailable. Because the attack requires no authentication or user interaction, any reachable Windows OCSP deployment is potentially exposed.
Microsoft has published an advisory for CVE-2024-38068 that outlines available patches and mitigation steps; the guidance is located at the Microsoft Security Response Center update guide.
EPSS scores for the issue have remained modest, with a recorded peak of 0.0758 and a current value of 0.0515.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-37763
Vulnerability details
Windows Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) Server Denial of Service Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.
Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.
Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.
Updated contingency plans include current procedures to detect, contain, and recover from resource exhaustion, limiting an attacker's ability to sustain impact from uncontrolled consumption.
Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.
Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.
The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.
Timely maintenance support and spare parts enable rapid recovery from failures induced by uncontrolled resource consumption, shortening the impact window of denial-of-service attacks.