CVE-2005-0568 in Soldier Of Fortune 2
Summary
by MITRE
Soldier of Fortune II 1.03 gold allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a large cl_guid value, which results in an invalid pointer dereference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/23/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-0568 affects Soldier of Fortune II version 1.03 gold, a first-person shooter game released in 2005. This issue represents a classic buffer overflow condition that occurs during client-server communication within the game's networking protocol. The flaw manifests when a remote attacker sends a specially crafted packet containing an excessively large cl_guid value to a target system running the vulnerable game client. The cl_guid parameter typically represents a client identifier used for network synchronization and player tracking within multiplayer gaming sessions. This vulnerability falls under the category of improper input validation and memory management errors, specifically manifesting as an invalid pointer dereference during the processing of network packets. The technical implementation involves the game client's network handler failing to properly validate the length or content of the cl_guid field before attempting to process it, leading to memory corruption when the application tries to access invalid memory addresses.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service, as it provides attackers with a mechanism to remotely crash game clients without requiring any special privileges or authentication. This makes it particularly dangerous in multiplayer gaming environments where players may unknowingly connect to malicious servers or be targeted by attackers who exploit this weakness. The invalid pointer dereference occurs at the application level rather than the operating system level, making it a software-level vulnerability that can be exploited across different operating systems supporting the game client. Attackers can leverage this weakness to disrupt gameplay for multiple users simultaneously, potentially causing server instability or forcing legitimate players to disconnect from sessions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in competitive gaming environments where maintaining stable connections and preventing service interruptions is critical for fair play and user experience. From a cybersecurity perspective, this represents a type of application-level attack that can be classified under the MITRE ATT&CK framework as a Denial of Service technique, specifically targeting networked applications through malformed input handling.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2005-0568 should focus on input validation and network traffic filtering measures. Game developers and system administrators should implement proper bounds checking on all network parameters including cl_guid values, ensuring that incoming data conforms to expected size and format limitations. The most effective immediate solution involves updating to patched versions of the game client that properly validate input lengths before processing network packets. Network administrators can also implement firewall rules or intrusion detection systems that monitor for unusually large packet sizes in game traffic, particularly targeting the specific port ranges used by Soldier of Fortune II. Additionally, implementing rate limiting on network connections and connection validation mechanisms can help prevent exploitation of this vulnerability. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which addresses out-of-bounds read errors. From a defensive standpoint, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input sanitization in networked applications and highlights how seemingly benign parameters like client identifiers can become attack vectors when not properly validated. Regular security updates and patch management procedures are essential to protect against such vulnerabilities, as the original version of Soldier of Fortune II was released well before modern security practices became standard in software development.