CVE-2004-0056 in Succession Communication Server 1000
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple vulnerabilities in the H.323 protocol implementation for Nortel Networks Business Communications Manager (BCM), Succession 1000 IP Trunk and IP Peer Networking, and 802.11 Wireless IP Gateway allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code, as demonstrated by the NISCC/OUSPG PROTOS test suite for the H.225 protocol.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/17/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0056 represents a critical security flaw within the H.323 protocol implementation of several Nortel Networks communication systems including the Business Communications Manager BCM, Succession 1000 IP Trunk and IP Peer Networking devices, and the 802.11 Wireless IP Gateway. This issue stems from inadequate input validation and error handling mechanisms within the H.225 protocol layer that governs call signaling in H.323 communications. The vulnerability was specifically exposed through testing conducted by the NISCC/OUSPG PROTOS test suite which demonstrated the protocol's susceptibility to malformed packet structures and improper state management during call establishment and termination processes. The H.323 protocol framework, which is widely deployed in enterprise communication systems, relies heavily on proper validation of signaling messages to maintain system stability and security posture. When these validation checks fail, attackers can exploit the gaps to manipulate the protocol state machines and trigger unexpected behaviors in the affected systems.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through carefully crafted malicious H.225 protocol messages that target buffer overflow conditions and improper memory management within the Nortel implementations. These attacks can be executed remotely without requiring authentication, making them particularly dangerous for enterprise networks where these systems are often directly accessible from external networks. The flaw manifests when the protocol implementation fails to properly validate the length fields and content of incoming signaling messages, allowing attackers to send malformed packets that cause memory corruption or infinite loop conditions within the system's processing routines. This particular vulnerability maps directly to CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which addresses heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers legitimate credentials and protocol manipulation for system compromise, and T1499, which involves network disruption through protocol manipulation attacks.
The operational impact of CVE-2004-0056 extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to potentially enable remote code execution on affected systems, making it a particularly severe threat to enterprise communication infrastructures. When exploited successfully, the vulnerability can cause complete system crashes requiring manual intervention and system restarts, effectively disrupting critical business communications and potentially leading to extended downtime. The affected Nortel systems operate as core communication infrastructure components, making their compromise particularly damaging to organizational operations. Organizations relying on these systems for voice communications, video conferencing, and unified messaging services face significant operational risks when this vulnerability remains unpatched. The vulnerability affects not only individual devices but also entire network segments that depend on proper H.323 signaling for interconnectivity, potentially causing cascading failures throughout the communication infrastructure. Security researchers have noted that the vulnerability's exploitation can occur through standard network traffic analysis tools, making detection difficult and increasing the attack surface for potential adversaries.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2004-0056 should focus on immediate network segmentation and access control measures to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to external networks. Organizations should implement strict firewall rules to restrict H.323 protocol traffic to only trusted internal networks and establish network monitoring procedures to detect anomalous signaling traffic patterns. The most effective long-term solution involves applying official security patches provided by Nortel Networks, which address the underlying buffer overflow conditions and improve input validation mechanisms within the H.323 protocol implementation. Network administrators should also consider implementing protocol-aware intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malformed H.225 messages before they can cause system disruption. Additional protective measures include regular security assessments of communication infrastructure, implementation of network access control policies, and establishment of incident response procedures specifically designed to handle protocol-level attacks. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches for communication infrastructure components and demonstrates the critical need for comprehensive network security monitoring in enterprise environments. Organizations should also consider migrating to more secure communication protocols or implementing additional security layers such as protocol encryption and authentication mechanisms to reduce the attack surface and improve overall network resilience against similar vulnerabilities.