CVE-2007-0120 in Web Vulnerability Scanner
Summary
by MITRE
Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner (WVS) 4.0 Build 20060717 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via multiple HTTP requests containing invalid Content-Length values.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/16/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0120 affects Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner version 4.0 build 20060717 and earlier releases, presenting a significant denial of service risk that can be exploited by remote attackers. This weakness specifically targets the application's handling of HTTP requests with malformed Content-Length headers, demonstrating a critical flaw in input validation and request processing mechanisms within the vulnerability scanning software.
The technical flaw manifests when the scanner encounters multiple HTTP requests containing invalid Content-Length values, which causes the application to crash and become unavailable to legitimate users. This vulnerability operates at the protocol level where the scanner fails to properly validate and sanitize incoming HTTP headers before processing them, leading to an unhandled exception that results in application termination. The issue stems from inadequate error handling within the HTTP request parsing component, where malformed Content-Length values trigger memory corruption or stack overflow conditions that are not gracefully managed by the software's defensive mechanisms.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe disruption to security operations as the Acunetix scanner becomes unavailable during critical security assessments. Organizations relying on this tool for web application security testing face potential delays in their vulnerability management processes, as the scanner must be restarted to restore functionality. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this weakness without requiring physical access or authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous for environments where the scanner is exposed to untrusted network traffic. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability aspect of the CIA triad, potentially leaving web applications unprotected during the time when the scanner is non-operational.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input length or size, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-122, improper restriction of operations within a limited space, as the scanner's memory management fails to properly handle malformed input. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1499.004, Network Denial of Service, and T1595.001, Network Scanning, as it enables adversaries to disrupt security infrastructure while potentially gathering intelligence about target systems. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to the latest version of Acunetix WVS where this vulnerability has been addressed, applying network-level restrictions to limit exposure of the scanner to untrusted traffic, and implementing monitoring solutions to detect abnormal application behavior that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of robust input validation practices and proper error handling mechanisms in security tools to prevent exploitation of similar weaknesses in other components of the security infrastructure.