CVE-2004-0458 in mah-jong
Summary
by MITRE
mah-jong before 1.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (server crash) via a missing argument, which triggers a null pointer dereference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/16/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0458 affects the mah-jong server software version 1.6.2 and earlier, representing a critical denial of service flaw that can be exploited remotely by attackers. This issue stems from inadequate input validation within the application's argument processing mechanism, specifically when handling command line parameters or network requests that are expected to contain mandatory arguments. The vulnerability manifests when a remote attacker sends a specially crafted request that omits required arguments, causing the application to proceed with uninitialized or null data structures during processing.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-476, which describes null pointer dereference conditions that occur when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has not been properly initialized or has been set to null. In this case, the mah-jong server application fails to validate the presence of required arguments before attempting to process them, leading to a scenario where the program attempts to dereference a null pointer during normal operation. This condition typically occurs in the server's request handling or argument parsing routines where the software assumes certain parameters will always be present without proper validation checks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it provides attackers with a straightforward method to crash the mah-jong server application remotely. This denial of service condition can be exploited by any remote attacker who can establish communication with the vulnerable server, making it particularly dangerous in publicly accessible environments. The server crash resulting from this vulnerability can lead to complete service unavailability, requiring manual intervention to restart the application and potentially causing extended downtime for legitimate users. The exploitability of this vulnerability is relatively high given that it requires minimal sophistication to execute and can be automated through simple network requests.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of implementing robust input validation and defensive programming practices within server applications. The flaw represents a classic example of insufficient error handling and parameter validation that can be addressed through proper software design principles. Organizations should consider implementing the ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which focuses on avoiding the use of system binaries that may be vulnerable to exploitation, and ensure that all network services undergo proper security testing for input validation vulnerabilities. The vulnerability also highlights the necessity of maintaining up-to-date software versions and implementing network segmentation to limit the exposure of vulnerable services to potential attackers. Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of the affected mah-jong server software to version 1.6.2 or later, along with implementing network monitoring to detect unusual patterns of service disruption that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, defensive measures such as input sanitization, proper error handling, and application-level firewalls can help reduce the risk of exploitation while maintaining service availability for legitimate users.