CVE-2004-1759 in Conference Connection
Summary
by MITRE
Cisco voice products, when running the IBM Director Agent on IBM servers before OS 2000.2.6, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via arbitrary packets to TCP port 14247, as demonstrated using port scanning.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-1759 affects Cisco voice products that operate in conjunction with IBM Director Agent on IBM servers running operating systems prior to version 2000.2.6. This flaw represents a significant security concern as it enables remote attackers to exploit a denial of service condition through carefully crafted network traffic. The specific attack vector involves sending arbitrary packets to TCP port 14247, which triggers excessive cpu consumption on the targeted system. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and resource management in network services, particularly those that handle external communications.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate packet processing within the Cisco voice product software when interfacing with the IBM Director Agent. When the system receives malformed or unexpected packets on the designated port 14247, the processing routine fails to properly validate incoming data or implement appropriate resource limits. This allows an attacker to craft packets that cause the system to consume excessive cpu cycles in attempting to process the malformed data. The vulnerability specifically leverages the port scanning technique to trigger the denial of service condition, making it particularly dangerous as it can be easily automated and executed remotely without requiring authentication or prior access to the system.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a substantial risk for organizations relying on Cisco voice infrastructure integrated with IBM server environments. The denial of service condition resulting from this vulnerability can effectively render voice services unavailable to legitimate users, causing business disruption and potential financial losses. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this vulnerability from anywhere on the network, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments where network segmentation may not be fully implemented. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as the excessive cpu consumption can affect overall system performance and potentially impact other applications running on the same server infrastructure.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and demonstrates the broader category of resource exhaustion attacks that fall under the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and denial of service tactics. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate affected systems, firewall rules to block traffic on TCP port 14247, and proper patch management procedures to ensure all systems are updated with the latest security fixes. The recommended approach involves applying vendor-supplied patches, implementing network access controls, and monitoring for suspicious network activity on the affected port. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing intrusion detection systems to identify and alert on potential exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability.