CVE-2008-0330 in Radius Server
Summary
by MITRE
Open System Consultants (OSC) Radiator before 4.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via malformed RADIUS requests, as demonstrated by packets sent by nmap.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/08/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-0330 affects Open System Consultants Radiator versions prior to 4.0, representing a critical denial of service flaw that can be exploited remotely by sending malformed RADIUS requests. This vulnerability specifically targets the daemon process responsible for handling RADIUS authentication requests, creating a condition where legitimate service operations can be disrupted through carefully crafted malicious packets. The flaw demonstrates how network protocol implementations can be susceptible to crafted input that causes unexpected behavior in the underlying software architecture.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the RADIUS request processing logic of the Radiator daemon. When malformed packets are received, the software fails to properly handle the unexpected data structures or malformed fields within the RADIUS protocol headers, leading to a crash of the daemon process. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input boundaries, and specifically relates to CWE-707, concerning improper neutralization of input during web application processing. The vulnerability represents a classic buffer over-read or parsing error scenario where the daemon attempts to process malformed data without proper error handling mechanisms.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risk to network infrastructure security as it allows remote attackers to disrupt authentication services without requiring any authentication credentials or privileged access. The demonstration using nmap packets illustrates how readily available security testing tools can be weaponized to exploit this flaw, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where RADIUS services are critical for network access control. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can potentially compromise network security by preventing legitimate users from accessing network resources through authentication failures.
The attack vector for this vulnerability operates through standard network protocols using the RADIUS authentication framework, making it accessible to any attacker with network connectivity to the target system. The exploitability is high due to the minimal prerequisites required and the widespread use of RADIUS authentication in enterprise networks. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and T1595.001, concerning network sniffing techniques that can be used to identify vulnerable systems. Organizations using older versions of Radiator should consider this vulnerability as part of their broader security posture assessment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-0330 primarily involve upgrading to Radiator version 4.0 or later, which contains proper input validation and error handling mechanisms to prevent daemon crashes from malformed requests. Network administrators should also implement additional protective measures such as rate limiting for RADIUS requests, firewall rules restricting RADIUS traffic to trusted sources, and monitoring for unusual traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation in network services and demonstrates how seemingly simple protocol implementations can contain critical security flaws that affect system availability and overall network security posture.