CVE-2007-4292 in IOS
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple memory leaks in Cisco IOS 12.0 through 12.4 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device crash) via a malformed SIP packet, aka (1) CSCsf11855, (2) CSCeb21064, (3) CSCse40276, (4) CSCse68355, (5) CSCsf30058, (6) CSCsb24007, and (7) CSCsc60249.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/23/2019
Cisco IOS versions 12.0 through 12.4 contain multiple memory leak vulnerabilities that enable remote attackers to trigger denial of service conditions through carefully crafted SIP packets. These vulnerabilities represent a critical class of software flaws that can be exploited without authentication, allowing adversaries to consume system resources and ultimately cause device crashes. The memory leaks occur within the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) processing module of the IOS operating system, where insufficient memory management and validation mechanisms fail to properly handle malformed packet structures. Each of the identified vulnerabilities CSCsf11855, CSCeb21064, CSCse40276, CSCse68355, CSCsf30058, CSCsb24007, and CSCsc60249 demonstrates a distinct memory allocation pattern that, when triggered by malformed SIP traffic, leads to progressive memory consumption until system stability is compromised. The technical flaw stems from inadequate input validation and memory deallocation procedures within the SIP parser, where malformed packets containing unexpected field values or malformed headers cause the system to allocate memory resources without proper cleanup mechanisms. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-401: Improper Release of Memory and CWE-122: Heap Overflow, both of which are classified under memory management errors in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog. The operational impact of these vulnerabilities extends beyond simple device crashes, as they can be leveraged to create sustained denial of service attacks against network infrastructure, potentially disrupting voice communications and other SIP-based services. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities by sending specially crafted SIP packets to affected Cisco devices, causing the memory leaks to accumulate over time and eventually result in system instability or complete device failure. The remote nature of the attack vector means that adversaries do not require physical access or network credentials to exploit these flaws, making them particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where SIP services are commonly deployed. From an adversarial perspective, these vulnerabilities align with ATT&CK technique T1499.004: Endpoint Denial of Service, specifically targeting network infrastructure devices to cause operational disruption. The exploitation process typically involves sending multiple malformed SIP packets to the target device, with each packet triggering a memory leak that accumulates until the system reaches its resource limits. Organizations running affected Cisco IOS versions should prioritize implementing immediate mitigations including network segmentation, access control lists to filter SIP traffic, and firmware updates to address the underlying memory management issues. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of robust input validation and memory management practices in network operating systems, as similar issues could potentially exist in other network protocols or services. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any additional memory leak patterns that may exist within network infrastructure devices and ensure comprehensive protection against similar threats.