CVE-2007-2195 in Alvaros Messenger
Summary
by MITRE
aMSN (aka Alvaro s Messenger) 0.96 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) by sending invalid data to TCP port 31337.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-2195 affects aMSN, also known as Alvaro s Messenger version 0.96 and earlier, presenting a significant denial of service risk through remote exploitation. This messenger application, designed for instant messaging communications, suffers from inadequate input validation mechanisms that fail to properly handle malformed data sent to its designated TCP port 31337. The flaw represents a classic buffer overflow condition or improper data parsing issue that can be triggered by malicious actors without requiring authentication or special privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to validate incoming data streams before processing them within the messaging protocol handler. When a remote attacker sends invalid or malformed data packets to the TCP port 31337, the application's parsing routines encounter unexpected data structures that cause the program to crash or terminate unexpectedly. This behavior aligns with CWE-129, which addresses issues related to insufficient validation of the length of input data, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities. The lack of proper bounds checking and input sanitization creates an exploitable condition that can be systematically leveraged by threat actors to disrupt service availability.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to users who rely on aMSN for communication services, as it can be exploited remotely without requiring user interaction or authentication. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the integrity of the messaging environment, as attackers can repeatedly exploit the flaw to maintain persistent denial of service conditions. The vulnerability affects the availability aspect of the CIA triad, specifically targeting the application's ability to maintain consistent service delivery to legitimate users. This weakness can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a fundamental failure in secure coding practices that violates industry standards for robust application design.
The mitigation strategies for this vulnerability involve immediate patching of the aMSN application to version 0.97 or later, which includes proper input validation and data sanitization routines. System administrators should implement network segmentation to restrict access to TCP port 31337 and deploy intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malformed data packets targeting this specific port. Additionally, network administrators should consider implementing firewall rules that limit access to this port to trusted sources only, while monitoring for unusual traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of input validation in network applications and demonstrates how seemingly minor coding oversights can create significant security risks that can be exploited by remote attackers.