CVE-2004-2483 in Winroute Firewall
Summary
by MITRE
Kerio WinRoute Firewall before 6.0.9 uses information from PTR queries in response to A queries, which allows remote attackers to poison the DNS cache or cause a denial of service (connection loss).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2004-2483 affects Kerio WinRoute Firewall versions prior to 6.0.9 and represents a significant DNS cache poisoning weakness that can be exploited remotely. This flaw stems from the firewall's improper handling of DNS query responses where it incorporates information from PTR (pointer) queries into A (address) query responses. The issue creates a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate DNS resolution behavior by injecting false information into the DNS cache, potentially redirecting network traffic to malicious destinations or disrupting legitimate connectivity. This vulnerability operates at the network infrastructure level and can have cascading effects on network availability and security.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the firewall's DNS resolver logic failing to properly validate or filter DNS response data. When processing DNS queries, the system incorrectly merges data from different query types, specifically allowing PTR record information to influence A record responses. This behavior creates a cache poisoning scenario where attackers can craft malicious DNS responses that appear legitimate to the firewall's resolver. The flaw essentially allows an attacker to manipulate the DNS resolution process by sending spoofed responses that contain PTR data which gets cached and used for subsequent A queries, thereby compromising the integrity of the DNS resolution process.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to network security and availability. The ability to poison DNS caches means that attackers can redirect traffic intended for legitimate services to malicious endpoints, potentially enabling man-in-the-middle attacks, data interception, or service disruption. The denial of service component of this vulnerability can result in complete connection loss for affected network services, as the poisoned cache prevents proper DNS resolution. Organizations relying on Kerio WinRoute Firewall for network protection face potential compromise of their entire network infrastructure if this vulnerability remains unpatched, as DNS poisoning attacks can be executed without requiring deep network access or sophisticated attack techniques.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of Kerio WinRoute Firewall installations to version 6.0.9 or later, which contains the necessary fixes to properly isolate DNS query responses and prevent cross-contamination between different record types. Network administrators should also implement DNS security measures such as DNSSEC deployment to add cryptographic validation to DNS responses, making cache poisoning attacks more difficult to execute successfully. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing DNS monitoring and alerting systems to detect unusual DNS activity patterns that might indicate cache poisoning attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-257, which addresses the insecure storage of sensitive information, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol: DNS, specifically targeting the manipulation of DNS resolution processes to achieve unauthorized network access or service disruption.