CVE-2001-0534 in Radius
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple buffer overflows in RADIUS daemon radiusd in (1) Merit 3.6b and (2) Lucent 2.1-2 RADIUS allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary commands.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/09/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2001-0534 represents a critical security flaw affecting RADIUS daemon implementations, specifically radiusd in Merit 3.6b and Lucent 2.1-2 versions. This issue manifests as multiple buffer overflows that occur during the processing of RADIUS authentication requests, creating a significant attack surface for remote adversaries seeking to compromise network security infrastructure. The vulnerability resides in the core authentication daemon that manages network access control, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on RADIUS-based authentication systems for their network security posture.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management within the RADIUS daemon code. When processing incoming RADIUS packets, the daemon fails to properly bounds-check user-supplied data before copying it into fixed-length buffers, creating predictable buffer overflow conditions. This flaw allows attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations, potentially corrupting program execution flow and enabling arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability specifically affects the authentication processing modules where user credentials and authentication parameters are handled, making it particularly attractive to attackers seeking unauthorized network access or system compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2001-0534 extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios to encompass full system compromise capabilities. Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the RADIUS daemon process, which typically runs with elevated system permissions. This compromise can result in complete network access control system takeover, enabling attackers to authenticate as any user, bypass network security controls, or establish persistent access points within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability's exploitation can also lead to denial of service conditions that disrupt legitimate network authentication services, affecting thousands of users simultaneously.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through vendor-supplied patches or upgrades to unaffected versions of the RADIUS daemon software. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to RADIUS ports to trusted sources only, reducing the attack surface. Monitoring for suspicious authentication requests and unusual network behavior patterns can help detect exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121 for stack-based buffer overflow conditions and maps to ATT&CK technique T1110 for credential access and T1499 for network denial of service. System administrators should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems specifically configured to detect RADIUS protocol anomalies that may indicate exploitation attempts, ensuring comprehensive protection against this and similar authentication service vulnerabilities.