CVE-2006-6292 in Airport Extreme
Summary
by MITRE
Apple Airport Extreme firmware 0.1.27 in Mac OS X 10.4.8 on Mac mini, MacBook, and MacBook Pro with Core Duo hardware allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds memory access and kernel panic) and have possibly other security-related impact via certain beacon frames.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/15/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2006-6292 represents a critical flaw in the Apple Airport Extreme firmware version 0.1.27 that affected Mac systems running Mac OS X 10.4.8. This issue specifically targeted devices including Mac mini, MacBook, and MacBook Pro models equipped with Core Duo processors. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of beacon frames within the wireless networking stack, creating a dangerous condition that could be exploited by remote attackers without any authentication requirements. The flaw manifests as an out-of-bounds memory access condition that ultimately leads to kernel panic, effectively rendering the affected systems unusable until manual reboot occurs.
This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds memory access conditions, and also relates to CWE-20, concerning input validation issues. The technical implementation flaw occurs within the wireless driver component of the operating system where beacon frames are processed without adequate bounds checking. When malformed or specially crafted beacon frames are received from malicious wireless access points, the firmware fails to properly validate the frame contents before attempting to process them. This inadequate validation allows attackers to manipulate memory pointers and access regions outside the intended data boundaries, causing the kernel to crash and resulting in a complete system denial of service. The vulnerability demonstrates how wireless protocol implementations can create dangerous attack surfaces when proper memory management and input sanitization are not implemented.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service, as it could potentially enable more sophisticated attacks depending on the attacker's capabilities and objectives. Remote attackers could exploit this flaw to repeatedly crash wireless connections, disrupt network services, or potentially gain unauthorized access to system resources through the kernel panic conditions. The vulnerability affects systems that are actively connected to wireless networks, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where wireless infrastructure is extensively deployed. Additionally, the nature of the flaw suggests potential for privilege escalation or information disclosure, as kernel-level memory corruption could expose sensitive system data or provide footholds for further exploitation. Organizations with multiple affected devices face significant operational disruption risks, particularly in mission-critical environments where wireless connectivity is essential.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate firmware updates from Apple, which would address the memory access validation issues within the wireless driver components. System administrators should also implement network segmentation to isolate affected devices from critical infrastructure and deploy wireless intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious beacon frame activity. Network administrators should consider disabling wireless capabilities on affected systems when not actively required, though this approach may not be practical in all environments. The remediation process requires careful testing of firmware updates to ensure compatibility with existing network configurations and applications, as wireless driver updates can sometimes introduce unexpected compatibility issues. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect kernel panic events and establish incident response procedures for handling wireless-based denial of service attacks, aligning with the mitigation strategies recommended in the MITRE ATT&CK framework for wireless network attacks and privilege escalation techniques.