CVE-2010-2262 in Weborf HTTP Server
Summary
by MITRE
Galileo Students Team Weborf before 0.12.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted Range header.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-2262 affects the Weborf web server software developed by the Galileo Students Team. This particular flaw resides in versions prior to 0.12.1 and represents a significant security concern that could be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt service availability. The vulnerability specifically manifests through manipulation of the HTTP Range header, a standard mechanism used for requesting specific portions of a file from a web server. When a maliciously crafted Range header is sent to the affected Weborf server, it triggers an improper handling of the request that leads to a crash of the web server process. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of denial of service attacks, where the primary objective is to make the service unavailable to legitimate users by causing the application to terminate unexpectedly.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and error handling within the Weborf server's processing of HTTP Range headers. When the server receives a malformed or specially crafted Range header, it fails to properly sanitize the input before attempting to process it, leading to a buffer overflow condition or other memory corruption issues. This improper handling of user-supplied data violates fundamental security principles and represents a classic example of a buffer overflow vulnerability that has been documented in various security frameworks including CWE-121. The vulnerability demonstrates poor defensive programming practices where the software does not adequately validate the boundaries of input data before processing, allowing malicious input to cause unexpected behavior in the application's execution flow.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can be exploited by attackers to create persistent availability issues for web services hosted on affected servers. Remote attackers can leverage this vulnerability without requiring any authentication or privileged access to the system, making it particularly dangerous in production environments. The crash resulting from the Range header manipulation can be repeated multiple times, potentially leading to sustained denial of service conditions that may require manual intervention to restore service. Organizations using Weborf versions prior to 0.12.1 are at risk of having their web services rendered unavailable, which can result in business disruption, loss of productivity, and potential revenue impact. The vulnerability also represents a potential entry point for more sophisticated attacks, as the server crash could be used to mask other malicious activities or as part of a larger attack campaign.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-2262 primarily involve upgrading to Weborf version 0.12.1 or later, which contains the necessary patches to properly handle Range headers and prevent the crash condition. System administrators should also implement network-level protections such as firewall rules that limit access to web services or employ intrusion detection systems that can identify and block suspicious Range header patterns. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing rate limiting mechanisms to prevent abuse of the vulnerability through automated attack tools. The vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK framework techniques including T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service and T1595.000 for Network Infrastructure Takedown, emphasizing the importance of addressing such vulnerabilities promptly. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar issues in other web server implementations, as this type of input validation flaw is commonly found in various web applications and can be exploited across different platforms and technologies.