CVE-2008-7011 in Dead Mans Hand
Summary
by MITRE
The Unreal engine, as used in Unreal Tournament 3 1.3, Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004, Dead Man s Hand, Pariah, WarPath, Postal2, and Shadow Ops, allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (server exit) via multiple file downloads from the server, which triggers an assertion failure when the Closing flag in UnChan.cpp is set.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/20/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-7011 represents a significant denial of service weakness within multiple Unreal Engine implementations that were widely deployed across various gaming platforms and applications. This flaw specifically affects versions of the Unreal Tournament 3 1.3, Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004, Dead Man's Hand, Pariah, WarPath, Postal2, and Shadow Ops, indicating a widespread impact across the Unreal Engine ecosystem. The vulnerability manifests when authenticated remote users exploit multiple file download requests to trigger an assertion failure within the UnChan.cpp file, ultimately causing server termination and disrupting service availability for legitimate users.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of the Closing flag within the UnChan.cpp source file, which serves as a critical component in the Unreal Engine's channel management system. When multiple file download requests are processed simultaneously, the assertion failure occurs because the system fails to properly manage the state transitions associated with channel closure operations. This particular flaw demonstrates a classic lack of proper resource management and state validation that would be categorized under CWE-665 as improper initialization of resources or CWE-129 as insufficient validation of array indices. The assertion failure essentially represents a defensive programming mechanism that was designed to catch invalid states but instead causes the entire server process to terminate when triggered by malicious or excessive download requests.
The operational impact of CVE-2008-7011 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the availability of entire gaming servers and online communities that rely on these Unreal Engine implementations. The vulnerability requires only authenticated access to exploit, meaning that users who have legitimate accounts within the affected games can trigger this denial of service condition without requiring special privileges or elevated access levels. This characteristic places the vulnerability within the ATT&CK framework's T1499.004 category for Network Denial of Service, where adversaries can leverage legitimate access to cause service interruptions. The consequences include complete server shutdowns that can last for extended periods, potentially disrupting gaming sessions, competitive tournaments, and community interactions that depend on these server infrastructures.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and resource management protocols within the Unreal Engine's channel handling mechanisms. System administrators should consider implementing rate limiting controls to prevent excessive concurrent file download requests from any single authenticated user, thereby reducing the likelihood of triggering the assertion failure. Additionally, the source code should be modified to ensure that the Closing flag is properly validated and handled during concurrent file transfer operations, preventing the assertion failure from occurring. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual patterns of file download requests that could indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include code reviews focused on resource management and state transition handling, particularly within the UnChan.cpp file and similar channel management components. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper defensive programming practices and demonstrates how seemingly minor state management issues can result in critical service availability problems that affect entire gaming communities and their online interactions.