CVE-2013-2790 in IOServer
Summary
by MITRE
The master-station DNP3 driver before driver19.exe, and Beta2041.exe, in IOServer allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via crafted DNP3 packets to TCP port 20000.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/26/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2790 affects the master-station DNP3 driver component within IOServer software, specifically impacting versions prior to driver19.exe and Beta2041.exe. This issue represents a critical denial of service weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt operational continuity of industrial control systems. The affected DNP3 driver operates on TCP port 20000, making it susceptible to network-based attacks that can cause the system to enter an infinite loop state, effectively rendering the industrial process monitoring and control functionality unavailable.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate input validation and error handling within the DNP3 protocol implementation. When maliciously crafted DNP3 packets are transmitted to the targeted TCP port 20000, the driver fails to properly process these malformed packets, leading to a condition where the system enters an infinite loop. This occurs because the driver lacks proper bounds checking and protocol state validation mechanisms that would normally detect and reject malformed or suspicious packet sequences. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-129 as an insufficient input validation issue, where the system fails to properly validate the length and structure of incoming DNP3 frames before processing them.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can severely compromise the reliability of industrial control systems that depend on continuous monitoring and control of critical infrastructure. In environments where IOServer is used for managing power grids, water treatment facilities, or other industrial processes, an infinite loop condition can lead to complete system unresponsiveness, potentially causing cascading failures in the broader operational network. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers do not require physical access to the system, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in industrial settings where network security may be less stringent than in traditional enterprise environments.
The attack vector for this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network denial of service attacks targeting industrial control systems. The vulnerability demonstrates how protocol-level flaws in industrial communication stacks can be exploited to create persistent service interruptions that are difficult to diagnose and remediate. Organizations using affected IOServer versions should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate the vulnerable port, firewall rules to restrict access to TCP port 20000, and application-level filtering to prevent malformed DNP3 packets from reaching the vulnerable driver. Additionally, the affected systems should be updated to versions containing patches that address the input validation issues and implement proper error handling mechanisms to prevent the infinite loop condition from occurring. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust protocol validation in industrial control systems and the need for comprehensive security testing of communication stacks in critical infrastructure environments.