CVE-2004-0392 in racoon
Summary
by MITRE
racoon before 20040407b allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop and dropped connections) via an IKE message with a malformed Generic Payload Header containing invalid (1) "Security Association Next Payload" and (2) "RESERVED" fields.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/29/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0392 affects the racoon IKE daemon version prior to 20040407b, representing a critical denial of service flaw that can be exploited remotely. This vulnerability specifically targets the Internet Key Exchange protocol implementation within the racoon software, which is commonly used for establishing secure communications through IPsec. The issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the IKE message processing pipeline, where the daemon fails to properly handle malformed Generic Payload Headers that contain invalid values in critical field positions.
The technical flaw manifests when an attacker crafts an IKE message with a malformed Generic Payload Header that contains invalid values in both the "Security Association Next Payload" field and the "RESERVED" field. These fields are part of the standardized IKE payload structure defined in RFC 2408 and subsequent specifications, where the Security Association Next Payload field indicates the type of the next payload in the message sequence, while the RESERVED field should remain zero according to protocol specifications. When racoon encounters these malformed values, it enters an infinite loop during message processing, causing the daemon to consume excessive CPU resources and ultimately dropping legitimate connections. The vulnerability operates at the protocol parsing layer, making it particularly dangerous as it can affect the entire IKE negotiation process and prevent secure key exchange operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can effectively render IPsec-based secure communications unusable for the affected system. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness without requiring authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in network environments where IPsec is used for securing critical communications. The infinite loop behavior causes the racoon daemon to become unresponsive, leading to cascading failures in network security infrastructure that relies on IKE for key management. This vulnerability affects systems implementing IPsec security policies, particularly those using racoon as their IKE daemon, potentially compromising network availability and security posture. The impact is especially severe in environments where IPsec is used for site-to-site connections, remote access VPNs, or other security-critical communications channels.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected racoon installations to version 20040407b or later, which includes proper validation of Generic Payload Header fields. Network administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect anomalous IKE traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of array indices and other input validation issues, and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1499.002 for network denial of service attacks. Additional defensive measures include implementing network segmentation to limit exposure, configuring firewalls to monitor and restrict IKE traffic, and establishing incident response procedures for handling potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify malformed IKE messages and trigger automated responses to prevent service disruption.