CVE-2002-2262 in HP-UX
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in xntpd of HP-UX 10.20 through 11.11 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (hang) via unknown attack vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/12/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-2262 represents a critical weakness in the xntpd implementation within Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX operating systems spanning versions 10.20 through 11.11. This issue manifests as an unspecified flaw that can be exploited remotely to induce a denial of service condition, specifically causing the network time protocol daemon to hang or become unresponsive. The affected component xntpd serves as a crucial time synchronization service that maintains system clock accuracy across networked environments, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous for enterprise infrastructure where precise timekeeping is essential for security operations, logging, and system coordination.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies in its ability to be triggered through unspecified attack vectors that exploit weaknesses in the xntpd daemon's processing mechanisms. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability falls under the category of unspecified weakness where the exact technical flaw remains undocumented in the public record, but the impact is clearly defined as a denial of service condition. The attack surface encompasses remote exploitation capabilities, meaning that adversaries do not require physical access or local privileges to compromise the system, which significantly increases the threat level. This characteristic aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which covers network denial of service attacks targeting time synchronization services that can disrupt critical infrastructure operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption to potentially compromise the integrity of time-sensitive operations within affected systems. When xntpd becomes unresponsive, it affects not only the immediate time synchronization capabilities but can also disrupt downstream services that depend on accurate time stamps for security logging, authentication processes, and distributed system coordination. Organizations running HP-UX systems in mission-critical environments face significant risk of cascading failures when time services become unavailable, as many security protocols rely on synchronized clocks for proper operation. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions of HP-UX 10.x and 11.x creates widespread exposure across enterprise networks that may have legacy systems still operating on these older platforms.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-2262 require immediate attention through patch management and system hardening measures. HP should have released specific patches for the affected xntpd versions to address the underlying flaw, though given the age of this vulnerability, organizations may need to consider system migration or replacement as primary long-term solutions. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of affected systems, while monitoring should be enhanced to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date system patches and the dangers of running legacy operating systems that may no longer receive security updates. Organizations should also consider implementing redundant time synchronization services and backup time sources to ensure continuity of operations in case of primary service failure, aligning with best practices for resilient infrastructure design and operational security protocols.