CVE-2002-0314 in Fasttrack P2P
Summary
by MITRE
fasttrack p2p, as used in (1) KaZaA before 1.5, (2) grokster, and (3) morpheus allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion) via a series of client-to-client messages, which pops up new windows per message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/16/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-0314 represents a critical denial of service flaw affecting several peer-to-peer file sharing applications including KaZaA versions prior to 1.5, Grokster, and Morpheus. This vulnerability operates through a specific pattern of client-to-client communication that exploits the applications' handling of incoming messages, leading to a systematic memory exhaustion condition that ultimately results in application instability and service disruption.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves the manipulation of client-to-client messaging protocols within the peer-to-peer networks. When remote attackers send a series of carefully crafted messages to connected peers, the affected applications respond by creating new graphical user interface windows for each received message. This behavior creates a cascading effect where each message triggers additional window creation, consuming system resources at an exponential rate. The flaw resides in the applications' inadequate input validation and resource management when processing peer communications, specifically failing to implement proper rate limiting or message filtering mechanisms.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to both individual users and network infrastructure. The memory exhaustion attack can be executed with minimal resources from remote attackers, making it particularly dangerous in peer-to-peer networks where users frequently communicate with unknown peers. The cascading window creation effect can quickly overwhelm system resources, leading to application crashes, system slowdowns, or complete system lockups. Network administrators face challenges in detecting and mitigating such attacks since they appear as legitimate peer-to-peer communications, making the vulnerability particularly stealthy and difficult to distinguish from normal network activity.
The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass potential system instability and user experience degradation. In environments where these peer-to-peer applications are heavily utilized, such as corporate networks or educational institutions, attackers could leverage this vulnerability to disrupt legitimate file sharing operations and potentially cause broader network performance issues. The vulnerability also highlights weaknesses in peer-to-peer application security models that often prioritize functionality over robustness against malicious input patterns.
Security professionals should consider implementing network-level filtering and rate limiting to prevent excessive message propagation between peers. Application vendors should focus on improving input validation mechanisms and implementing proper resource management techniques to prevent uncontrolled window creation. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which addresses "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption" and represents a classic example of how insufficient resource management can lead to denial of service conditions. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the T1499.004 technique related to "Network Denial of Service" and demonstrates how peer-to-peer protocols can be exploited for service disruption attacks.
Mitigation strategies should include updating to patched versions of affected software, implementing network monitoring to detect unusual message traffic patterns, and establishing proper access controls within peer-to-peer networks. Organizations should also consider deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify the specific message patterns associated with this vulnerability. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper resource management in distributed applications and serves as a reminder of the security challenges inherent in peer-to-peer network architectures where trust relationships are often minimal or non-existent.