CVE-2004-1644 in Xedus
Summary
by MITRE
Xedus 1.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (refuse connections) by connecting multiple times from the same IP address.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/24/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2004-1644 affects Xedus 1.0, a software application that exhibits a specific weakness in its connection handling mechanism. This flaw represents a classic denial of service attack vector that exploits the application's inability to properly manage concurrent connections from identical sources. The vulnerability manifests when an attacker establishes multiple connections from the same ip address to the target system, leading to a situation where legitimate users cannot establish new connections to the service.
This technical weakness fundamentally stems from inadequate connection management and resource allocation within the Xedus 1.0 application. The software fails to implement proper connection rate limiting or connection pooling mechanisms that would normally prevent a single source from overwhelming the system's available connection slots. The flaw operates at the network protocol level where the application does not properly validate or limit the number of concurrent connections from individual ip addresses, creating a scenario where malicious actors can exhaust available resources through repetitive connection attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the availability of critical network services. When an attacker successfully exploits this weakness, the targeted system becomes unable to accept new legitimate connection requests, effectively rendering the service inaccessible to authorized users. This type of denial of service attack can be particularly damaging in environments where continuous availability is required, such as web servers, database services, or network infrastructure components that rely on Xedus 1.0 for operation.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which describes improper resource management leading to denial of service conditions. The flaw demonstrates poor implementation of connection handling logic and lacks proper input validation for connection requests. According to ATT&CK framework, this represents a denial of service technique that can be categorized under T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks. The vulnerability also reflects weak access control mechanisms that fail to implement proper rate limiting or connection throttling policies.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper connection rate limiting and source-based connection restrictions. System administrators should configure the application to limit the number of connections permitted from individual ip addresses within a specific time window. Network-level solutions such as firewalls or load balancers can be configured to monitor and restrict excessive connection attempts from single sources. Additionally, implementing proper logging and monitoring capabilities would allow administrators to detect and respond to such attacks more effectively, while regular updates and patches to the Xedus 1.0 software would address the underlying implementation flaw that enables this attack vector.