CVE-2006-0822 in EmuLinker Kaillera Server
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in EmuLinker Kaillera Server before 0.99.17 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (probably resource consumption) via a crafted packet that causes a "ghost game" to be left on the server.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/30/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-0822 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the EmuLinker Kaillera Server software ecosystem. This particular flaw exists in versions prior to 0.99.17 and demonstrates how seemingly innocuous network packet manipulation can lead to significant operational disruptions. The vulnerability manifests when remote attackers craft specific packets that result in the creation of persistent "ghost games" on the affected server infrastructure. These ghost games represent malformed or abandoned game sessions that consume server resources without providing any legitimate service functionality, effectively degrading the system's ability to handle legitimate user requests.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which classifies resource exhaustion issues as a fundamental weakness in software design. The flaw operates at the network protocol level where the server fails to properly validate incoming packet structures and maintain proper session state management. When attackers submit crafted packets, the server's parsing logic becomes confused and creates incomplete game sessions that remain in memory or database states indefinitely. This condition represents a classic case of inadequate input validation and resource management, where the server's failure to properly clean up after malformed requests leads to progressive resource consumption. The vulnerability's designation as potentially causing resource consumption issues indicates that it operates through mechanisms that gradually exhaust memory, CPU cycles, or other system resources, ultimately rendering the server incapable of serving legitimate users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption to represent a serious threat to server availability and reliability. Attackers can maintain persistent resource consumption by creating these ghost games, which may require manual intervention or server restarts to resolve. The cumulative effect of multiple such attacks can lead to complete service outages, particularly in environments where the server handles significant user loads. Organizations relying on Kaillera Server for emulation networking services face potential disruptions to their gaming communities, as the vulnerability can be exploited without requiring elevated privileges or specialized knowledge beyond basic packet crafting skills. This makes the attack surface particularly wide and the threat level elevated for any deployment that has not been updated to version 0.99.17 or later.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability center on immediate software updates to versions 0.99.17 or later, which contain the necessary patches to properly handle malformed packets and prevent ghost game creation. Network administrators should implement robust monitoring systems to detect unusual resource consumption patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, deploying network-level filtering rules that can identify and block suspicious packet patterns may provide an additional layer of protection. The vulnerability's characteristics suggest that implementing proper session timeout mechanisms and resource cleanup procedures would be beneficial. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can monitor for patterns consistent with this specific attack vector, as the behavior of ghost game creation follows predictable patterns that can be detected through behavioral analysis rather than signature-based methods. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and implementing comprehensive resource management practices in networked applications.