CVE-2007-6220 in typespeed
Summary
by MITRE
typespeed before 0.6.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via unspecified network behavior that triggers a divide-by-zero error.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-6220 affects the typespeed application version 0.6.4 and earlier, presenting a significant security risk through its susceptibility to remote denial of service attacks. This flaw manifests when specific network behavior patterns trigger a divide-by-zero error within the application's processing logic, leading to application crashes and complete service disruption. The vulnerability represents a classic software implementation error that demonstrates poor error handling and input validation practices, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where remote exploitation is possible.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate error handling mechanisms within the typespeed application's network processing components. When malicious or malformed network data is received, the application fails to properly validate input parameters before performing arithmetic operations, specifically allowing division by zero conditions to occur. This divide-by-zero error is a well-documented software flaw that typically results in immediate application termination or system instability. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-369 category of CWE-369: Divide by Zero, which is classified as a common weakness in software development practices that directly impacts application availability and stability. The specific network behavior that triggers this condition remains unspecified in the CVE description, suggesting that attackers may be able to craft various packet formats or data sequences that will consistently cause the arithmetic error to occur.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe availability risk for systems running affected versions of typespeed. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness to cause repeated application crashes, effectively rendering the service unusable for legitimate users. The nature of the attack allows for persistent denial of service conditions, as the application will crash every time the specific network behavior is triggered, requiring manual intervention or system restarts to restore functionality. This vulnerability directly maps to the ATT&CK technique T1499.004: Network Denial of Service, which focuses on disrupting network services through various means including application-level crashes and resource exhaustion. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption, as repeated exploitation can lead to system instability, increased administrative overhead, and potential cascading effects on dependent services that rely on the affected application.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2007-6220 requires immediate patching to version 0.6.4 or later, which presumably contains fixed error handling routines that prevent divide-by-zero conditions. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to the affected service, while also deploying intrusion detection systems that can monitor for suspicious network behavior patterns associated with this vulnerability. Additional defensive measures include implementing application-level firewalls or proxies that can filter malicious input before it reaches the vulnerable application, as well as regular monitoring and log analysis to detect exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and error handling in network applications, emphasizing that all arithmetic operations should include proper boundary checks and that zero values should be explicitly validated before use. System administrators should also consider implementing automated monitoring solutions that can detect application crashes and trigger immediate alerting and recovery procedures to minimize service disruption.