CVE-2002-1925 in Personal Firewall
Summary
by MITRE
Tiny Personal Firewall 3.0 through 3.0.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) by via SYN, UDP, ICMP and TCP portscans when the administrator selects the Log tab of the Personal Firewall Agent module.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/01/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1925 affects Tiny Personal Firewall versions 3.0 through 3.0.6, representing a significant denial of service weakness in network security software. This flaw manifests when administrators interact with the Personal Firewall Agent module's Log tab while the system is under various types of port scans including SYN, UDP, ICMP, and TCP scans. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and demonstrates a classic buffer overflow or input validation failure that leads to system instability and complete service disruption.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability relies on the firewall software's inadequate handling of network traffic patterns during active scanning operations. When the administrator navigates to the Log tab while the firewall is processing multiple concurrent scan types, the application fails to properly validate incoming network packets, resulting in memory corruption or resource exhaustion that causes the application to crash. This behavior aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers stack-based buffer overflow scenarios. The vulnerability represents a fundamental flaw in the software's input sanitization mechanisms and demonstrates poor error handling practices during concurrent network traffic processing.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass potential security implications for network administrators who rely on the firewall for protection. When the Personal Firewall Agent crashes during active scanning, administrators lose visibility into their network traffic patterns and may be unable to monitor or respond to legitimate security threats. This creates a dangerous situation where the very tool designed to protect the network becomes a point of failure during critical security events. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where network monitoring is essential and where administrators frequently check logs during security incidents, as the crash occurs during routine administrative tasks rather than during unusual network events.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate patching of affected Tiny Personal Firewall versions to the latest available release that addresses the input validation issues. Network administrators should implement additional monitoring systems to detect when the firewall service becomes unavailable and establish automated recovery procedures. The ATT&CK framework's T1499.004 technique for network denial of service should be considered in threat modeling, as this vulnerability enables attackers to exploit the firewall's instability for service disruption. Organizations should also implement redundant logging mechanisms and ensure that critical network monitoring tools are not single points of failure. Additionally, network segmentation and intrusion detection systems can help detect and prevent the port scanning activities that trigger this vulnerability, while regular security audits should verify that all firewall components properly handle concurrent network traffic patterns without crashing.