CVE-2001-0314 in Server
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in www.tol module in America Online (AOL) 5.0 may allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service, and possibly execute arbitrary commands, via a long URL in a link.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/30/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2001-0314 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the www.tol module of America Online version 5.0. This issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms that fail to properly handle excessively long URL strings submitted through hyperlinks. The www.tol module serves as a critical component responsible for processing web links and managing internet connectivity within the AOL client environment, making it a prime target for exploitation by malicious actors seeking to compromise system integrity.
The technical nature of this vulnerability manifests as a classic buffer overflow condition where the application fails to validate the length of incoming URL data before processing it within a fixed-size memory buffer. When a remote attacker crafts a maliciously long URL and embeds it within a hyperlink, the www.tol module attempts to store this excessive data without proper bounds checking, causing the buffer to overflow into adjacent memory regions. This memory corruption can potentially overwrite critical program execution pointers, stack frames, or other essential data structures, leading to unpredictable application behavior and system instability.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to both individual users and network infrastructure. The primary impact includes denial of service conditions where legitimate AOL users experience application crashes or system freezes when encountering malicious links. However, the more severe implications arise from the potential for arbitrary code execution, which could allow attackers to gain unauthorized control over affected systems. This capability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203 (Exploitation for Client Execution) and maps to CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow) and CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) classifications, demonstrating the fundamental nature of the memory corruption vulnerability.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal technical sophistication from attackers, as it can be executed through simple web-based means using crafted hyperlinks. This characteristic makes it particularly dangerous in mass distribution scenarios where users might unknowingly click on malicious links within emails, web pages, or instant messaging communications. The vulnerability affects the broader AOL ecosystem and highlights the critical importance of input validation in client-side applications. Organizations and users should implement immediate mitigations including disabling the problematic www.tol module functionality, implementing URL length restrictions, and applying available patches from AOL to prevent exploitation. Additionally, network security controls such as web application firewalls and content filtering systems should be configured to detect and block suspicious URL patterns that exceed normal length parameters.