CVE-2002-1832 in Firestorm IDS
Summary
by MITRE
Unknown vulnerability in the "ipopts decode" functionality in Firestorm IDS 0.4.0 through 0.4.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via certain IP options.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1832 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the Firestorm Intrusion Detection System version 0.4.0 through 0.4.2. This issue specifically targets the ipopts decode functionality, which is responsible for processing and analyzing IP options within network packets. The Firestorm IDS, designed to monitor and detect potential security threats in network traffic, suffers from a fundamental flaw in its packet parsing mechanism that can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt system operations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the insufficient validation and handling of malformed IP options within the ipopts decode component. When the system encounters specially crafted IP packets containing malformed or unexpected IP options, the decoding routine fails to properly process these inputs, leading to a system crash or complete service disruption. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow, though the specific implementation manifests as a more general input validation failure that can cause arbitrary code execution or system termination. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming practices where the system does not adequately sanitize or validate input parameters before processing them.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to network security infrastructure as it allows remote attackers to perform denial of service attacks against Firestorm IDS deployments without requiring authentication or specialized privileges. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can compromise the integrity of network monitoring capabilities and potentially provide attackers with insights into the system's operational state. Organizations relying on Firestorm IDS for network protection face potential exposure to attacks that could go undetected while the system is being disrupted, creating a window of opportunity for more sophisticated attacks. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can target these systems from anywhere on the network, making it particularly dangerous in environments where such systems are exposed to untrusted network traffic.
The mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-1832 should focus on immediate patching of affected Firestorm IDS versions to address the ipopts decode functionality. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to untrusted traffic sources. Additionally, deploying intrusion prevention systems with signature updates that can detect and block malformed IP packets can provide additional defense in depth. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1498 which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a classic example of how insufficient input validation can lead to system instability and availability compromise. Organizations should also consider implementing redundant monitoring systems to ensure continuous network visibility even during potential exploitation attempts.