CVE-2002-2317 in Velociraptor
Summary
by MITRE
Memory leak in the (1) httpd, (2) nntpd, and (3) vpn driver in VelociRaptor 1.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via an unknown method.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-2317 represents a critical memory leak issue affecting multiple components of the VelociRaptor 1.0 security suite. This flaw manifests in three distinct services including the httpd web server daemon, the nntpd news server daemon, and the vpn driver component, creating a widespread attack surface for potential adversaries seeking to disrupt system operations. The vulnerability classifies under CWE-401, which specifically addresses improper management of dynamic memory allocation, making it a classic example of memory management failure that has persisted across numerous security frameworks and threat models.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate memory deallocation mechanisms within the affected services. When these components process incoming network requests or handle VPN connections, they fail to properly release allocated memory blocks, leading to progressive memory consumption over time. The remote exploitation aspect indicates that attackers can trigger this memory leak through network-based attacks without requiring local system access, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous in networked environments. The unspecified method of exploitation suggests that the memory leak could be triggered through various network protocols or malformed requests that cause the services to allocate memory without subsequent deallocation.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a reliable pathway for denial of service attacks that can gradually consume system resources until the affected services become unresponsive or the entire system crashes. The memory consumption pattern typically follows a predictable trajectory where each successful attack iteration increases the memory footprint, eventually leading to system instability. Network administrators face significant challenges in detecting this attack vector since the memory leak may appear as normal system behavior until the resource exhaustion becomes severe enough to impact service availability. The multi-component nature of this vulnerability means that organizations running VelociRaptor 1.0 must monitor and secure all three affected services simultaneously, increasing the operational complexity of mitigation efforts.
The attack surface for this vulnerability aligns with the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and denial of service tactics, where adversaries can leverage memory leaks to gradually degrade system performance. Organizations implementing VelociRaptor 1.0 should prioritize immediate patching or mitigation strategies, as the vulnerability represents a persistent threat that can be exploited repeatedly without detection. The lack of specific exploitation details in the CVE description suggests that this vulnerability may be particularly insidious, as it could potentially be triggered through multiple vectors, making comprehensive monitoring and defense strategies essential. Security teams should implement memory monitoring tools to detect abnormal memory consumption patterns and establish automated alerting mechanisms to identify potential exploitation attempts before they cause significant service disruption.