CVE-2004-0498 in Firewall Engine
Summary
by MITRE
The H.323 protocol agent in StoneSoft firewall engine 2.2.8 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via crafted H.323 packets.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/16/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0498 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the StoneSoft firewall engine version 2.2.8 and earlier implementations. This security weakness specifically targets the H.323 protocol agent component, which is responsible for handling H.323 signaling traffic in network environments. H.323 is a standard protocol suite for audiovisual communication over packet networks including the internet and corporate networks, making it a crucial component in VoIP and video conferencing systems. The flaw exists in how the firewall engine processes incoming H.323 packets, creating an exploitable condition that can be leveraged by remote attackers to disrupt network services.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and error handling within the H.323 protocol agent implementation. When the firewall engine receives crafted H.323 packets containing malformed or specially constructed data, the processing logic fails to properly handle these abnormal inputs, leading to system instability and eventual crash conditions. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-129, which encompasses issues related to improper validation of input boundaries, and more specifically aligns with CWE-20, representing improper input validation in software systems. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic buffer overflow or memory corruption pattern where malformed packet structures cause the application to behave unpredictably and terminate execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can severely compromise network availability and communication infrastructure. Organizations relying on StoneSoft firewalls for network security protection face significant risk when exposed to this flaw, as attackers can remotely trigger system crashes without requiring authentication or specialized access privileges. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where firewall systems serve as primary network defense mechanisms. The attack vector is remote and accessible over the network, meaning that any system with exposed H.323 traffic or firewall services can be targeted, potentially affecting VoIP communications, video conferencing systems, and general network connectivity. The vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and demonstrates how protocol-specific flaws can be exploited to achieve system-level disruptions.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of the StoneSoft firewall engine to version 2.2.9 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for proper H.323 packet handling. Network administrators should implement network segmentation to limit exposure of affected systems and consider blocking H.323 traffic at network boundaries where possible. Additionally, monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual traffic patterns or repeated connection attempts that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and proper error handling in network security appliances, particularly those handling real-time communication protocols. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and alert on malformed H.323 traffic patterns. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the critical need for regular security assessments and patch management processes, as it represents a failure to properly validate external inputs in a security-critical application component. The flaw serves as a reminder that network security appliances must handle malformed inputs gracefully without crashing or exposing system resources to unauthorized access.