CVE-2007-1170 in RACE - The WTCC Game
Summary
by MITRE
SimBin GTR - FIA GT Racing Game 1.5.0.0 and earlier, GT Legends 1.1.0.0 and earlier, GTR 2 1.1 and earlier, and RACE - The WTCC Game 1.0 and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (client disconnection) via an empty UDP packet to the server port.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2007-1170 represents a classic denial of service flaw affecting multiple racing simulation games from SimBin Studios including GTR - FIA GT Racing Game, GT Legends, GTR 2, and RACE - The WTCC Game. These games are susceptible to remote attacks that exploit a fundamental flaw in their network protocol handling mechanisms. The vulnerability specifically targets the UDP packet processing functionality of these gaming applications, where the software fails to properly validate incoming network traffic before attempting to process it. When an attacker sends an empty UDP packet to the server port of any affected game, the application experiences a client disconnection event, effectively disrupting gameplay for all connected participants.
This vulnerability demonstrates a critical weakness in input validation and error handling within networked gaming applications. The flaw falls under the category of improper input validation as defined by CWE-20, where the application does not adequately check the integrity and content of incoming network packets. The specific technical implementation issue occurs when the gaming servers attempt to process empty UDP datagrams without proper sanitization procedures, leading to unexpected behavior that results in client disconnections. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires minimal resources from the attacker while potentially causing significant disruption to multiplayer gaming sessions. This type of vulnerability represents a common pattern in legacy network applications where developers may not have implemented comprehensive error handling for malformed or empty network packets.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can severely affect the gaming experience for legitimate users. In multiplayer gaming environments, such a vulnerability could be exploited to repeatedly disconnect players from ongoing races or championship events, potentially causing loss of progress or competitive advantages. The vulnerability affects the availability aspect of the system's security triad by making the gaming service unreliable and potentially unusable for extended periods. From an attacker perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-impact method for causing service disruption, as demonstrated by the ATT&CK framework's relevance to network denial of service techniques. The vulnerability particularly impacts competitive gaming scenarios where stable network connections are essential for fair play and competitive integrity.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust input validation mechanisms for all incoming UDP packets, including empty packet detection and proper error handling procedures. Network administrators should consider implementing firewall rules that filter out empty UDP packets before they reach the gaming servers, while game developers should update their applications to include comprehensive packet validation routines. The fix should involve adding checks to ensure that UDP packets contain valid data before processing, with appropriate error handling for empty or malformed packets. Additionally, implementing rate limiting mechanisms can help prevent abuse of this vulnerability by limiting the number of packets that can be sent to server ports within a given time period. The vulnerability highlights the importance of secure coding practices and proper network protocol implementation in gaming applications, particularly those that rely heavily on real-time multiplayer connectivity and require stable network communication for optimal user experience.