CVE-2010-2567 in Windows
Summary
by MITRE
The RPC client implementation in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3 and Server 2003 SP2 does not properly allocate memory during the parsing of responses, which allows remote RPC servers and man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed response, aka "RPC Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/23/2025
The RPC Memory Corruption Vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-2567 represents a critical memory management flaw within Microsoft Windows operating systems that affects Windows XP SP2 and SP3 along with Server 2003 SP2 implementations. This vulnerability resides in the Remote Procedure Call client component that handles communication between distributed applications, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where remote code execution risks are heightened.
The technical flaw manifests during the parsing of RPC responses where the client implementation fails to properly validate memory allocation boundaries when processing malformed responses from remote servers. This improper memory handling creates a condition where attackers can craft specially crafted RPC responses that, when processed by the vulnerable client, trigger buffer overflow conditions or memory corruption scenarios. The vulnerability specifically targets the RPC client's response parsing logic rather than the server-side implementation, making it exploitable through man-in-the-middle attacks or by compromising remote RPC servers that communicate with vulnerable systems.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability enables remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user account running the RPC client process, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The attack vector requires minimal user interaction since the exploitation occurs during normal RPC communication processes, making it particularly insidious for enterprise environments where RPC services are commonly used for inter-process communication and system management tasks. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and follows ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for remote code execution through Windows RPC services.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve applying the Microsoft security update released in October 2010 as part of the security bulletin MS10-061, which addresses the memory allocation issues in the RPC client implementation. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit RPC service exposure, disable unnecessary RPC services where possible, and monitor network traffic for anomalous RPC communication patterns. Additionally, deploying network intrusion detection systems capable of identifying malformed RPC responses can provide early warning of potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper memory management in distributed systems and underscores the necessity of thorough input validation in network communication protocols.