CVE-2013-2019 in BOINC
Summary
by MITRE
Stack-based buffer overflow in BOINC 6.10.58 and 6.12.34 allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact via multiple file_signature elements.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/10/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2019 represents a critical stack-based buffer overflow flaw within the BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) software version 6.10.58 and 6.12.34. This issue resides in the handling of file_signature elements during the processing of computational tasks, creating a potential attack vector that could be exploited by remote adversaries. The buffer overflow occurs when the application fails to properly validate the size of incoming data elements, specifically those related to file signatures, allowing malicious actors to overwrite adjacent memory locations on the stack. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow, which is classified as a fundamental memory safety issue that can lead to arbitrary code execution.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves crafting specially malformed file_signature elements that exceed the allocated buffer size during parsing operations. When BOINC processes these elements, the insufficient bounds checking allows the attacker to overwrite the stack canary values, return addresses, or other critical program state information. This overflow can potentially be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the BOINC client process, which typically runs with elevated permissions to manage computational resources. The unspecified impact mentioned in the CVE description reflects the broad range of potential consequences including system compromise, denial of service, or data corruption. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation practices and highlights the importance of implementing robust memory management controls in distributed computing environments where software components process untrusted data from multiple sources.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-2019 extends beyond simple exploitation as it affects the integrity of distributed computing projects that rely on BOINC infrastructure. Organizations running BOINC clients across multiple systems face significant risk since the vulnerability can be triggered remotely without requiring local access to the target system. This makes it particularly dangerous in environments where computational resources are shared across networks or when BOINC is used in research institutions, educational settings, or large-scale scientific computing projects. The vulnerability also impacts the trust model of distributed computing, as compromised clients could potentially affect the entire computational grid by sending malicious payloads to other nodes. From an attacker perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and script interpreter execution, as successful exploitation could lead to persistent access and further compromise of the affected systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-2019 should focus on immediate patching of affected BOINC versions, implementing network-level restrictions to limit access to BOINC client services, and deploying input validation controls to prevent malformed data processing. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious file_signature element patterns and establish network segmentation to limit the potential spread of exploitation. The vulnerability underscores the need for regular security updates in distributed computing frameworks and highlights the importance of following secure coding practices such as those recommended in the CERT/CC Secure Coding Standards. Additionally, system administrators should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their BOINC deployments and implement monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts, as the stack-based nature of the vulnerability makes detection through traditional network monitoring more challenging but not impossible with proper forensic analysis capabilities.