CVE-2004-0604 in FastTrack
Summary
by MITRE
the http client and server in gift-fasttrack 0.8.6 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) possibly via an empty search query which triggers a null dereference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0604 affects the http client and server components within gift-fasttrack version 0.8.6 and earlier. This represents a critical security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks against systems running this software. The vulnerability manifests when the system processes an empty search query, which triggers a null pointer dereference condition that ultimately leads to application crash and system unavailability. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of improper input validation and memory management errors that have been consistently documented in security literature and standards.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the software's handling of HTTP requests containing empty search parameters. When such a query is processed, the application fails to properly validate the input data before attempting to dereference a null pointer within its search processing logic. This null pointer dereference represents a classic software bug that occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has not been properly initialized or has been set to null. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-476 which specifically addresses null pointer dereference conditions in software implementations. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming practices where proper input sanitization and validation mechanisms were not implemented to handle edge cases such as empty queries.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for systems that rely on gift-fasttrack for web-based services. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness to repeatedly crash the http server process, effectively rendering the service unavailable to legitimate users. The denial of service condition can be achieved without requiring any special privileges or authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by anyone with network access to the affected system. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which describes adversary tactics involving network denial of service attacks. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as it can be used as a stepping stone for more sophisticated attacks or as part of larger coordinated campaigns targeting availability.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated, making it attractive to attackers seeking to disrupt services. Systems administrators must understand that this vulnerability affects not just the application itself but potentially the entire infrastructure that depends on stable http services. The remediation approach involves implementing proper input validation mechanisms that check for empty or malformed search queries before processing them. Organizations should update to gift-fasttrack versions that contain patches addressing this specific null pointer dereference issue. Additionally, implementing network-level protections such as rate limiting and input filtering can provide temporary mitigation while updates are deployed. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of thorough testing including edge case scenarios to prevent similar issues in other software components. Security teams should monitor for exploitation attempts and maintain updated threat intelligence regarding this specific CVE.