CVE-2010-1561 in PGW 2200 Softswitch
Summary
by MITRE
The SIP implementation on the Cisco PGW 2200 Softswitch with software 9.7(3)S before 9.7(3)S11 and 9.7(3)P before 9.7(3)P11 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device crash) via a long message, aka Bug ID CSCsk44115.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-1561 affects the Session Initiation Protocol implementation within Cisco PGW 2200 Softswitch devices running specific software versions. This issue represents a critical denial of service weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers to crash the affected system. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the device receives a malformed SIP message containing excessive data length, causing the system to become unresponsive and ultimately crash. The affected software versions include 9.7(3)S before 9.7(3)S11 and 9.7(3)P before 9.7(3)P11, indicating that this flaw existed across multiple release branches of the Cisco PGW 2200 platform.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation within the SIP message processing mechanism of the affected Cisco devices. When a specially crafted SIP message with an abnormally long payload is transmitted to the device, the system fails to properly handle the excessive data length and subsequently crashes. This represents a classic buffer overflow or input validation vulnerability where the device does not adequately sanitize incoming SIP messages before processing them. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and leverages the SIP protocol's inherent structure to deliver malicious payloads that trigger the device's failure mechanisms. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers stack-based buffer overflow conditions, though the specific implementation likely involves improper input length handling rather than traditional buffer overflows.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire communication infrastructure that relies on the affected Cisco PGW 2200 devices. When an attacker successfully exploits this weakness, the device experiences a complete crash requiring manual intervention for recovery, including potential reboot procedures and configuration restoration. The attack vector requires only remote access to the SIP port, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited from outside the network perimeter without requiring physical access or authentication credentials. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability aspect of the CIA triad and can lead to significant service degradation or complete communication outages for organizations relying on these switches for voice and multimedia services. The attack can be executed repeatedly, allowing for sustained denial of service conditions that may require extended downtime for system recovery and patch deployment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-1561 should prioritize immediate software patching to address the vulnerable software versions. Cisco released security advisories and patches specifically addressing this vulnerability, and organizations must ensure their devices are updated to versions 9.7(3)S11 or later for the S release branch and 9.7(3)P11 or later for the P release branch. Network-level protections should include implementing access control lists to restrict SIP traffic to only trusted sources, deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious SIP message patterns, and configuring rate limiting to prevent message flooding attacks. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing redundant systems and failover mechanisms to maintain service availability during patch deployment windows. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with techniques categorized under T1499.004 for network denial of service and T1595.001 for network infrastructure manipulation. Organizations should also conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify similar weaknesses in their network infrastructure and ensure proper security posture maintenance.