CVE-2009-2549 in Arma 2
Summary
by MITRE
Armed Assault (aka ArmA) 1.14 and earlier, and 1.16 beta, and Armed Assault II 1.02 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a join packet with a final field whose value is (1) 0, which triggers a server crash related to memory allocation, or (2) 1, which triggers CPU/memory consumption and a NULL pointer dereference.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/21/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-2549 affects the Armed Assault gaming platform including ArmA versions 1.14 and earlier, 1.16 beta, and Armed Assault II versions 1.02 and earlier. This issue represents a critical denial of service vulnerability that can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt server operations. The flaw manifests in the handling of join packets during the server-client connection process, where specific values in the final field of these packets trigger distinct failure modes that compromise system stability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the game server's packet processing logic. When a malicious client sends a join packet with the final field set to the value 0, the server experiences a memory allocation error that results in an immediate crash and subsequent service disruption. This specific condition maps to CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, though the actual manifestation involves memory allocation failures rather than traditional buffer overflows. When the final field value is set to 1, the server enters a state of excessive CPU and memory consumption that ultimately leads to a NULL pointer dereference, causing the system to hang or crash due to resource exhaustion.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can be leveraged by attackers to perform sustained denial of service attacks against gaming servers. Server administrators face the challenge of maintaining availability for legitimate players while dealing with potential exploitation that could render their gaming infrastructure inaccessible. The vulnerability affects the core networking functionality of the game servers, making it particularly dangerous for multiplayer gaming environments where server stability is paramount for player experience and community engagement. This issue directly impacts the availability component of the CIA security triad, potentially affecting both the operational integrity of gaming services and player satisfaction.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected game versions to address the flawed packet handling logic. System administrators should implement network-level filtering to monitor and restrict suspicious join packets, though this approach may not be comprehensive given the nature of the exploit. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and error handling in networked applications, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify anomalous packet patterns associated with this specific exploit, while maintaining regular updates to address similar vulnerabilities in gaming platforms and their underlying networking protocols.