CVE-2003-1104 in Tivoli Firewall Toolbox
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in IBM Tivoli Firewall Toolbox (TFST) 1.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/19/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2003-1104 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within IBM Tivoli Firewall Toolbox version 1.2, a network security tool designed to manage and monitor firewall configurations. This security weakness resides in the software's handling of input data within its network communication protocols, creating an exploitable condition that can be leveraged by remote threat actors to gain unauthorized system access. The vulnerability's classification as a buffer overflow directly maps to CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking allows attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations and potentially execute malicious code.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the TFST 1.2 software components that process network traffic and configuration data. When the application receives malformed or excessively large data packets through its network interfaces, the buffer management routines fail to properly check array boundaries before copying data into allocated memory segments. This failure creates a condition where attackers can craft specially designed network packets that overflow the intended buffer space, potentially overwriting critical program execution structures including return addresses and function pointers. The attack vectors remain unspecified in the original CVE description, indicating that the exact method of exploitation was not fully documented at the time of discovery, which is common in legacy vulnerability reports from the early 2000s.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations utilizing IBM Tivoli Firewall Toolbox 1.2, as it enables remote code execution without requiring authentication credentials. Attackers exploiting this flaw can gain complete control over systems running the vulnerable software, potentially leading to data breaches, system compromise, and lateral movement within network environments. The impact extends beyond individual system compromise to affect broader network security postures, as firewall management tools often serve as critical infrastructure components that require elevated privileges and access to sensitive network configurations. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059, which covers command and scripting interpreter usage, as successful exploitation would likely involve executing malicious code through compromised firewall management interfaces.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying available security patches from IBM, which would have been released as part of the vendor's security response to this specific flaw. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to untrusted networks, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect anomalous network traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of regular security assessments and vulnerability management programs that can identify and remediate similar issues in legacy network security tools. Additionally, implementing network-based intrusion detection systems and ensuring proper firewall configuration can help reduce the attack surface and prevent unauthorized access to vulnerable components. Given that this vulnerability was discovered in 2003, organizations should also consider migrating away from unsupported software versions to modern security solutions that provide better protection against contemporary threats and maintain regular update cycles.