CVE-2003-0565 in Host
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple vulnerabilities in multiple vendor implementations of the X.400 protocol allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via an X.400 message containing certain unexpected ASN.1 constructs, as demonstrated using the NISSC test suite.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/15/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2003-0565 represents a critical security flaw affecting multiple vendor implementations of the X.400 messaging protocol, which is part of the broader X.500 directory services framework used for electronic mail and messaging systems. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and parsing mechanisms within X.400 message processing software, creating exploitable conditions that can be leveraged by remote attackers to compromise system integrity and availability. The X.400 protocol, designed for international electronic mail systems, operates at the application layer and relies heavily on ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) encoding standards for message structure and data representation, making it particularly susceptible to malformed data exploitation.
The technical flaw manifests through improper handling of ASN.1 constructs within X.400 messages, specifically when encountering unexpected or malformed ASN.1 encoded data structures. This vulnerability falls under the category of ASN.1 parsing vulnerabilities, which are commonly classified as CWE-129 and CWE-704 within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The NISSC test suite, a comprehensive testing framework for X.400 implementations, has demonstrated that attackers can craft malicious X.400 messages containing specific ASN.1 constructs that trigger buffer overflows, stack corruption, or other parsing anomalies. These malformed messages exploit the lack of proper bounds checking and input sanitization in the ASN.1 decoder components of various vendor implementations, causing the receiving systems to crash or behave unpredictably.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions, as it potentially enables remote code execution on affected systems. When processing malformed ASN.1 constructs, vulnerable X.400 implementations may experience memory corruption that can be exploited to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected service. This represents a significant threat to email infrastructure and directory services, particularly in enterprise environments where X.400 protocol implementations are still in use. The vulnerability affects systems that process X.400 messages, including mail servers, directory services, and messaging gateways that support X.400 protocol interoperability, potentially compromising entire communication infrastructures. The attack vector requires only the ability to send an X.400 message to the target system, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited from any location with network connectivity to the vulnerable service.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2003-0565 should focus on immediate patching of affected vendor implementations, as well as implementing network-level controls to restrict X.400 traffic where possible. Organizations should disable X.400 protocol support entirely if not required for business operations, as the protocol has largely been superseded by more secure messaging standards such as SMTP with TLS encryption. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to limit access to X.400 services to only trusted sources, while monitoring systems should be deployed to detect unusual X.400 message patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques such as T1210 (Exploitation of Remote Services) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter), as attackers can leverage the vulnerability to gain system access and execute malicious code remotely. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and ASN.1 parsing libraries with robust error handling can prevent similar vulnerabilities in future implementations, aligning with security best practices outlined in standards such as ISO/IEC 10646 and ITU-T X.680 specifications for ASN.1 handling.