CVE-2001-1289 in Quake 3 Arena
Summary
by MITRE
Quake 3 arena 1.29f and 1.29g allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a malformed connection packet that begins with several char-255 characters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2001-1289 represents a classic buffer overflow condition affecting the Quake 3 Arena gaming engine version 1.29f and 1.29g. This issue stems from inadequate input validation within the network protocol handling mechanism of the game server software. The flaw manifests when the server receives a specially crafted connection packet that contains multiple consecutive characters with the value of 255, which translates to the maximum value for an 8-bit signed integer. This specific character sequence triggers improper memory management during packet parsing, leading to a critical system failure that results in the complete crash of the game server.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability operates as a denial of service condition that leverages the fundamental weakness in how the Quake 3 engine processes network communication packets. The exploitation mechanism involves sending a malformed packet that begins with several consecutive char-255 characters, which causes the server to attempt to process this data without proper bounds checking. The underlying cause can be categorized as a CWE-121 stack-based buffer overflow, where the attacker manipulates the input data to overwrite adjacent memory locations in the program's execution stack. This type of vulnerability falls under the ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service, specifically targeting the availability aspect of the system by rendering the service completely inaccessible to legitimate users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can be exploited by remote attackers without requiring any authentication or privileged access to the system. The consequences include complete server downtime, loss of player sessions, and potential data integrity issues within the gaming environment. Gaming servers that rely on Quake 3 Arena 1.29f or 1.29g become immediately vulnerable to this attack vector, making them susceptible to both casual disruption and coordinated denial of service attacks that could target multiple servers simultaneously. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the game server software and can potentially impact the entire gaming experience for users connected to affected servers.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2001-1289 involve immediate software updates and patches provided by the game developers, as well as network-level protections that can filter out malformed packets before they reach the vulnerable server software. System administrators should implement proper input validation mechanisms and ensure that all gaming servers are running patched versions of the Quake 3 engine. Additionally, network segmentation and rate limiting can help reduce the effectiveness of such attacks by preventing attackers from flooding the server with malformed packets. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and proper memory management in networked applications, particularly in gaming environments where continuous availability is crucial for user experience. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and alert on suspicious packet patterns that match known attack signatures for this specific vulnerability.