CVE-2007-5250 in America's Army
Summary
by MITRE
The Windows dedicated server for the Unreal engine, as used by America s Army and America s Army Special Forces 2.8.2 and earlier, when Punkbuster (PB) is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (server hang) via packets containing 0x07 characters or other unspecified invalid characters. NOTE: this issue may overlap CVE-2007-4443. NOTE: this issue might be in Punkbuster itself, but there are insufficient details to be certain.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/03/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2007-5250 represents a critical denial of service weakness affecting the Unreal Engine dedicated server implementation used by popular military simulation games including America's Army and America's Army Special Forces. This issue specifically manifests when Punkbuster anti-cheat protection is enabled, creating a scenario where remote attackers can disrupt server operations through carefully crafted network packets. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the server's packet processing logic, which fails to properly handle or sanitize incoming data containing specific character sequences that should be considered invalid or malformed.
The technical flaw operates at the protocol level where the Unreal Engine dedicated server processes network communications without sufficient validation of packet contents. When packets containing 0x07 characters or other unspecified invalid characters are received, the server's processing routine becomes unstable and enters a state where it hangs or becomes unresponsive to legitimate client connections. This behavior aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of array indices, and CWE-20, concerning inputs that are not properly validated. The vulnerability demonstrates how insufficient input sanitization can lead to system instability and service disruption, particularly in multiplayer gaming environments where server availability directly impacts player experience and game integrity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can severely compromise the gaming experience for legitimate players and potentially impact competitive gaming scenarios. When a server becomes unresponsive due to this attack, players lose access to the game environment and may experience extended downtime while administrators attempt to recover the service. The vulnerability affects versions 2.8.2 and earlier of the America's Army games, indicating that this was a widespread issue affecting multiple iterations of the game's dedicated server implementation. This type of attack can be particularly damaging in competitive gaming environments where server stability and performance are critical for fair play and tournament operations.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability exemplifies how gaming infrastructure can become a target for denial of service attacks that exploit implementation flaws in network protocols. The issue demonstrates the importance of robust input validation and proper error handling in server applications, particularly those handling real-time multiplayer communications. Security practitioners should consider this vulnerability in the context of the ATT&CK framework, specifically under the T1498 technique for Network Denial of Service, which emphasizes how attackers can exploit application-level weaknesses to disrupt services. The vulnerability also highlights the need for comprehensive testing of anti-cheat systems like Punkbuster, as these components often become attack surfaces due to their privileged access and complex processing requirements. Mitigation strategies should include implementing proper packet filtering, updating to patched versions of the affected software, and deploying network monitoring solutions to detect and prevent malformed packet transmission that could trigger this specific vulnerability pattern.