CVE-2010-2825 in Ace 4710
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the SIP inspection feature on the Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) Module with software A2(1.x) before A2(1.6), A2(2.x) before A2(2.3), and A2(3.x) before A2(3.1) for Catalyst 6500 series switches and 7600 series routers, and the Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) 4710 appliance with software before A3(2.4), allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via crafted SIP packets over (1) TCP or (2) UDP, aka Bug IDs CSCta65603 and CSCta71569.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/23/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2010-2825 represents a critical denial of service weakness within Cisco's Application Control Engine (ACE) Module and ACE 4710 appliance implementations. This flaw specifically affects the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) inspection functionality that operates on Cisco Catalyst 6500 series switches and 7600 series routers. The vulnerability manifests in multiple software versions where the ACE module fails to properly handle malformed or specially crafted SIP packets, leading to complete device reloads that disrupt network services. The affected software versions include A2(1.x) before A2(1.6), A2(2.x) before A2(2.3), and A2(3.x) before A2(3.1) for the hardware modules, along with A3(2.4) for the ACE 4710 appliance. This issue impacts organizations relying on SIP-based communication systems, particularly those using Cisco's application control solutions for voice and video traffic management.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the insufficient input validation and error handling mechanisms within the SIP inspection engine of the ACE modules. When the system receives crafted SIP packets over either TCP or UDP protocols, the inspection process fails to properly parse or validate the packet structure, resulting in a memory corruption condition or stack overflow that triggers an automatic device reboot. The vulnerability is classified as a buffer overflow or memory corruption issue under CWE-121, where the system's failure to properly validate incoming SIP packet contents leads to unauthorized code execution or system termination. This represents a classic example of insufficient error handling in network protocol inspection systems, where malformed data can cause system crashes rather than being properly filtered or rejected.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise enterprise communication infrastructure. Network administrators managing voice-over-ip deployments using Cisco ACE modules face significant operational risk as attackers can remotely trigger device reboots without requiring authentication or specialized access. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it can be executed over standard network protocols without requiring privileged access, making it an attractive target for both malicious actors and security researchers. Organizations using SIP-based telephony systems, video conferencing solutions, or unified communications platforms that rely on Cisco ACE modules for traffic inspection and control face potential business disruption ranging from temporary communication outages to extended service interruptions during device recovery cycles. The vulnerability affects the availability aspect of the CIA triad, specifically targeting the system's ability to maintain continuous operation and service availability.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate software updates and patches provided by Cisco to address the specific software versions affected. Organizations should prioritize upgrading their ACE modules to versions A2(1.6), A2(2.3), A2(3.1), and A3(2.4) respectively, which contain the necessary fixes for the SIP inspection flaw. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit exposure of vulnerable ACE modules to untrusted networks, while monitoring systems should be deployed to detect unusual traffic patterns or device reboots that may indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing rate limiting and packet filtering rules to reduce the impact of potential attacks, and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing device reload events. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks, and represents a classic example of how protocol inspection weaknesses can be exploited to compromise network availability, requiring both preventive and reactive security measures to maintain operational resilience.