CVE-2007-5788 in Ht488
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in the SIP parser on the Grandstream HT-488 0.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device crash) via a crafted SIP INVITE message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/26/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-5788 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the Session Initiation Protocol parser of the Grandstream HT-488 0.1 IP phone device. This issue resides in the device's handling of SIP INVITE messages, which are fundamental components of VoIP communication protocols used for establishing and managing voice calls. The vulnerability specifically affects the device's ability to process malformed or specially crafted SIP INVITE requests that exceed the allocated buffer space, creating a condition where the device's memory management fails catastrophically.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker sends a maliciously constructed SIP INVITE message to the affected Grandstream HT-488 device. The device's SIP parser lacks proper input validation and boundary checking mechanisms, allowing an attacker to overflow the designated buffer space allocated for processing SIP message headers and payload data. This buffer overflow condition results in the corruption of adjacent memory locations, ultimately leading to the device's complete system crash and subsequent denial of service. The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking allows data to overwrite adjacent memory regions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations relying on VoIP infrastructure, particularly in enterprise environments where phone systems serve as critical communication pathways. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this flaw from outside the local network, potentially disrupting business communications without requiring physical access to the device or sophisticated network positioning. The denial of service impact extends beyond simple call disruption, as the device crash may require manual intervention for recovery, potentially causing extended downtime for voice communication services. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks targeting communication systems.
The remediation approach for this vulnerability requires immediate firmware updates from Grandstream to address the buffer overflow in the SIP parser implementation. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of VoIP devices to untrusted networks, while also deploying intrusion detection systems capable of identifying suspicious SIP traffic patterns. Network administrators should consider implementing SIP message filtering rules that can identify and block malformed INVITE messages before they reach the vulnerable device. Additionally, regular security assessments of VoIP infrastructure should be conducted to identify similar buffer overflow vulnerabilities in other telephony equipment, as this represents a common class of flaws in embedded communication devices that require robust input validation and memory management practices. The vulnerability highlights the importance of applying security patches promptly and maintaining comprehensive inventory management of all networked devices to ensure timely remediation of known security flaws.