CVE-2009-0630 in IOS
Summary
by MITRE
The (1) Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express; (2) SIP Gateway Signaling Support Over Transport Layer Security (TLS) Transport; (3) Secure Signaling and Media Encryption; (4) Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol (BEEP); (5) Network Admission Control HTTP Authentication Proxy; (6) Per-user URL Redirect for EAPoUDP, Dot1x, and MAC Authentication Bypass; (7) Distributed Director with HTTP Redirects; and (8) TCP DNS features in Cisco IOS 12.0 through 12.4 do not properly handle IP sockets, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (outage or resource consumption) via a series of crafted TCP packets.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/09/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-0630 represents a critical flaw in Cisco IOS software versions 12.0 through 12.4 that affects multiple network infrastructure components including Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, SIP Gateway Signaling Support Over TLS, Secure Signaling and Media Encryption, BEEP protocol support, Network Admission Control HTTP Authentication Proxy, Per-user URL Redirect functionality for various authentication methods, Distributed Director with HTTP Redirects, and TCP DNS features. This vulnerability stems from improper handling of IP sockets within the affected Cisco IOS implementations, creating a pathway for remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks against network infrastructure devices.
The technical flaw manifests when remote attackers craft and transmit a series of specially designed TCP packets that exploit weaknesses in how Cisco IOS manages socket connections and resource allocation. This improper socket handling allows attackers to either cause complete outages of affected services or consume excessive system resources, leading to system instability and service disruption. The vulnerability affects the fundamental network communication mechanisms that these Cisco IOS features rely upon, making it particularly dangerous as it can impact multiple interconnected services within a single network infrastructure device.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise entire network communication infrastructures. When exploited, the vulnerability can cause cascading failures across multiple network services that depend on the affected Cisco IOS features, leading to widespread communication outages that can affect voice, video, and data services. Network administrators may observe increased system resource consumption, unexpected service interruptions, and potential complete system crashes depending on the exploitation method and target device configuration.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2009-0630 should prioritize immediate software updates to the latest available Cisco IOS releases that contain patches addressing the socket handling vulnerabilities. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of affected devices to untrusted networks, while also deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious TCP packet patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-119, which describes weaknesses in memory handling and resource management, and corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1498, which covers network denial of service attacks. Network administrators should also consider implementing rate limiting and connection tracking mechanisms to prevent resource exhaustion attacks and establish comprehensive monitoring procedures to detect abnormal network behavior indicative of exploitation attempts.