CVE-2008-1249 in 320 SIP Phone
Summary
by MITRE
snomControl.swf in the central phone server for the Snom 320 SIP Phone allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash and corruption of call logs) via a " ); (double quote, quote, close parenthesis, semicolon) sequence in the "Call a number" field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/07/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-1249 affects the snomControl.swf flash application component within the central phone server infrastructure of Snom 320 SIP phones. This represents a classic input validation flaw that demonstrates how improper handling of user-supplied data can lead to system instability and operational disruption. The vulnerability specifically resides in the "Call a number" field processing functionality where the flash application fails to properly sanitize or escape special characters before processing user input. When an attacker submits a malicious sequence consisting of a double quote, closing parenthesis, and semicolon characters, the application's parsing mechanism becomes confused and subsequently crashes.
This denial of service condition manifests through two primary impacts that demonstrate the vulnerability's operational significance. First, the application experiences a complete crash that requires manual intervention to restore normal phone functionality. Second, the vulnerability results in corruption of call logs, which represents a more insidious impact as it compromises the integrity of audit trails and operational records that are critical for troubleshooting and security monitoring purposes. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires minimal technical expertise to execute and can be performed remotely without authentication, making it accessible to both malicious actors and potentially unauthorized users within the network.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-170, which specifically addresses improper handling of input that can lead to application crashes and data corruption. The flaw represents a failure in input validation and sanitization practices that are fundamental to secure application development. The attack pattern employed here follows techniques commonly associated with cross-site scripting and injection attacks, though it operates within the confines of the proprietary flash-based interface rather than web-based environments. The vulnerability's impact severity is elevated due to its potential for operational disruption in telephony environments where reliable communication systems are essential.
The operational implications of this vulnerability extend beyond simple service interruption to encompass broader security and compliance concerns. In enterprise environments, call log integrity is often required for regulatory compliance and security investigations, making the corruption of these records particularly problematic. Organizations utilizing Snom 320 SIP phones would need to implement immediate mitigations including input filtering at the network level, application-level restrictions on the vulnerable field, and potentially disabling the affected functionality until a proper patch can be deployed. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of secure coding practices and input validation across all application components, including legacy flash-based interfaces that may not receive regular security updates. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring to detect and prevent exploitation attempts while working toward a comprehensive remediation strategy that addresses the root cause through proper input sanitization and application hardening measures.