CVE-2006-4833 in Frame Relay Access Device Act
Summary
by MITRE
Verso NetPerformer FRAD ACT SDM-95xx 7.xx (R1) and earlier, SDM-93xx 10.x.x (R2) and earlier, and SDM-92xx 9.x.x (R1) and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (hang or reboot) via an ICMP packet with the same destination and source address and port, aka the "Land" vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/23/2017
The CVE-2006-4833 vulnerability represents a classic denial of service flaw that affects several versions of Verso NetPerformer FRAD ACT SDM series network devices. This vulnerability specifically targets the ICMP packet processing functionality within these network appliances, creating a condition where legitimate network traffic can be exploited to disrupt service availability. The affected models include SDM-95xx 7.xx (R1) and earlier versions, SDM-93xx 10.x.x (R2) and earlier versions, and SDM-92xx 9.x.x (R1) and earlier versions, indicating this was a widespread issue affecting multiple generations of the same network infrastructure family.
The technical flaw stems from the improper handling of ICMP packets that contain identical source and destination addresses and ports, commonly referred to as the "Land" attack pattern. When these malformed packets reach the vulnerable devices, the network processors encounter a condition where they attempt to process packets with contradictory routing information, leading to system instability. The specific mechanism involves the device's kernel or network stack failing to properly validate incoming ICMP packets before attempting to route or process them, causing the system to enter an infinite loop or resource exhaustion state that ultimately results in system hang or forced reboot.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it represents a fundamental flaw in network device security architecture. Network administrators face the challenge of maintaining service availability when attackers can remotely trigger system failures without requiring authentication or sophisticated attack vectors. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that any network-connected device running the affected firmware versions can be compromised from anywhere on the internet, making it particularly dangerous for critical infrastructure deployments. Organizations using these devices may experience unannounced service outages, potentially leading to business disruption and loss of productivity, while also creating opportunities for attackers to perform reconnaissance or establish persistent access points.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2006-4833 should focus on immediate firmware updates from Verso to address the root cause of the vulnerability, as well as implementing network-level protections such as ICMP filtering and rate limiting. Network security teams should deploy ingress and egress filtering rules to drop malformed ICMP packets with identical source and destination addresses, which aligns with best practices from the cybersecurity community and represents a defensive technique categorized under the attack tactic of defense evasion in the MITRE ATT&CK framework. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper input validation and boundary checking in network protocol implementations, which corresponds to CWE-129, Input Validation and Representation, and CWE-770, Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring solutions to detect unusual traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, while maintaining detailed logs of network activity to support incident response and forensic analysis activities.