CVE-2006-6227 in NeoEngine
Summary
by MITRE
The Core::Receive function in neonet/core.cpp for NeoEngine 0.8.2 and earlier, and CVS 3422, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (engine crash) via a message with a large uiMessageLength that produces a failed memory allocation and a null pointer dereference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/23/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-6227 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the NeoEngine software ecosystem, specifically affecting versions 0.8.2 and earlier, as well as CVS revision 3422. This vulnerability resides in the Core::Receive function located within the neonet/core.cpp file, demonstrating a fundamental weakness in how the system processes incoming network messages. The flaw manifests when remote attackers craft malicious messages containing excessively large uiMessageLength values, which triggers a cascade of memory allocation failures and subsequent null pointer dereferences that ultimately crash the entire engine process.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows a predictable pattern that aligns with common software security weaknesses categorized under CWE-121. Attackers can manipulate the uiMessageLength parameter to exceed acceptable memory allocation limits, causing the system to fail during memory allocation attempts. When the allocation fails, the code path continues to execute with a null pointer reference, leading to an immediate crash of the NeoEngine service. This particular implementation flaw demonstrates poor error handling and resource management practices that violate fundamental security principles. The vulnerability operates at the network level, making it particularly dangerous as it requires no authentication or privileged access to exploit, representing a classic remote code execution vector that has been repurposed for denial of service attacks.
The operational impact of CVE-2006-6227 extends beyond simple service disruption, potentially affecting availability of critical network services that depend on the NeoEngine framework. Organizations utilizing affected versions of NeoEngine face significant risk of unauthorized service disruption, which could be exploited as part of broader attack campaigns or simply used as a means to degrade system availability. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service indicates its potential for use in coordinated attack scenarios where multiple systems are targeted simultaneously. The crash condition creates a persistent availability issue that requires manual intervention to restore service, potentially leading to extended downtime for affected systems. This vulnerability also highlights the importance of input validation and memory management practices in network-facing applications, as the flaw exists in core protocol handling code that processes untrusted network data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2006-6227 should focus on implementing proper bounds checking for message length parameters and robust error handling for memory allocation failures. System administrators should immediately upgrade to versions of NeoEngine that have patched this vulnerability, as the affected versions represent an outdated and unsupported release. Network-level protections such as rate limiting and message size filtering can provide temporary defensive measures while permanent fixes are implemented. The vulnerability's characteristics suggest that implementing proper input sanitization and defensive programming practices would have prevented the null pointer dereference condition. Additionally, deployment of intrusion detection systems that monitor for unusual message length patterns could help identify exploitation attempts before they cause service disruption. Organizations should also consider implementing automated patch management processes to ensure rapid deployment of security updates across all affected systems.