CVE-2008-6671 in SunAge
Summary
by MITRE
Vertex4 SunAge 1.08.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop and hang) via a crafted join packet to UDP port 27960.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/05/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-6671 affects the Vertex4 SunAge software version 1.08.1 and earlier, presenting a significant security risk that can be exploited remotely by attackers to cause denial of service conditions. This issue specifically targets the network communication protocols implemented within the software, particularly focusing on UDP port 27960 which serves as the primary communication channel for the affected system. The vulnerability manifests through a crafted join packet that, when transmitted to the designated UDP port, triggers an infinite loop condition that results in system hang and complete service unavailability.
The technical flaw resides in the improper handling of incoming join packets within the network protocol stack of the Vertex4 SunAge application. When a malicious actor sends a specially crafted packet to UDP port 27960, the software fails to properly validate or process the packet structure, leading to a condition where the application enters an infinite loop during packet processing. This infinite loop consumes system resources continuously without terminating execution, effectively causing the application to become unresponsive and unable to process legitimate network requests. The vulnerability represents a classic example of a resource exhaustion attack that can be executed with minimal network access and requires no authentication or elevated privileges to exploit successfully.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe disruption to network services and can result in complete system downtime for affected organizations using the Vertex4 SunAge software. The denial of service condition affects not only the immediate availability of the targeted service but can also impact broader network operations if the affected system serves critical functions within the network infrastructure. The infinite loop condition can persist until manual system intervention occurs, requiring administrators to restart the affected service or reboot the entire system to restore normal operations. Organizations relying on this software for network management or communication services face significant operational risks, including potential revenue loss, service interruptions, and increased administrative overhead during incident response activities.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-835, which describes the weakness of an infinite loop in software implementations, and represents a common pattern in network protocol implementations where insufficient input validation leads to execution control flow issues. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and demonstrates how attackers can leverage protocol implementation flaws to compromise service availability. The low complexity and high impact nature of this vulnerability makes it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to disrupt network services without requiring sophisticated attack capabilities or deep system access. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems, implement network segmentation to limit exposure, and establish monitoring procedures to detect unusual packet patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate deployment of vendor patches or updates that address the packet validation issue in the network protocol handling code. Network administrators should also implement UDP port filtering rules to restrict access to port 27960 from unauthorized sources and establish intrusion detection systems capable of identifying malformed join packets. Additionally, regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other network protocols and applications, while system monitoring should be enhanced to detect resource exhaustion patterns that may indicate exploitation of this or related vulnerabilities. The implementation of proper input validation and error handling mechanisms within network services remains critical to preventing similar issues in future software implementations.