CVE-2002-2222 in isakmpd
Summary
by MITRE
isakmpd/message.c in isakmpd in FreeBSD before isakmpd-20020403_1, and in OpenBSD 3.1, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) by sending Internet Key Exchange (IKE) payloads out of sequence.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/20/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-2222 affects the isakmpd daemon in FreeBSD and OpenBSD operating systems, specifically within the message.c component of the Internet Key Exchange implementation. This flaw represents a classic denial of service vulnerability that exploits improper handling of IKE protocol messages during the security association establishment process. The issue occurs when the isakmpd daemon receives IKE payloads that are not processed in the correct sequence, leading to a crash of the daemon service and subsequent disruption of network security operations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the insufficient input validation and message ordering checks within the IKE message processing code. When the isakmpd daemon receives IKE payloads that violate the expected sequence order, the message.c component fails to properly validate the message flow and gracefully handle the unexpected ordering. This results in an unhandled exception or memory corruption that ultimately causes the daemon to terminate abruptly. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication, making it a significant threat to network security infrastructure that relies on IKE for establishing secure communication channels.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a substantial risk for network administrators and security operations teams who depend on IKE-based VPN services for secure remote access and site-to-site connectivity. The denial of service impact means that legitimate users attempting to establish secure connections would experience immediate service disruption, potentially affecting business continuity and network availability. The vulnerability affects critical network security protocols including IPsec VPN implementations that rely on IKE for key exchange and security parameter negotiation, making it particularly concerning for enterprise networks and security-sensitive environments.
The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input boundaries, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. Organizations using affected versions of FreeBSD or OpenBSD should prioritize immediate patching and deployment of updated isakmpd versions that include proper message sequence validation and error handling mechanisms. Additionally, network monitoring should be implemented to detect unusual IKE traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of proper input validation and robust error handling in security-critical network services, particularly those implementing complex cryptographic protocols like IKE that require strict message ordering and validation to maintain system integrity and availability.