CVE-2013-3470 in IOS XR
Summary
by MITRE
The RIP process in Cisco IOS XR allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (process crash) via a crafted version-2 RIP packet, aka Bug ID CSCue46731.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/21/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3470 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Cisco IOS XR operating systems that affects the Routing Information Protocol version 2 implementation. This vulnerability specifically targets the RIP process, which is responsible for maintaining routing tables and exchanging routing information between network devices. The flaw manifests when the system receives a specially crafted version-2 RIP packet that triggers an unexpected behavior in the routing process, leading to complete system crash and service disruption.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the RIP packet processing module of IOS XR. When a maliciously formatted RIP packet is transmitted to a vulnerable device, the system fails to properly handle the malformed packet structure, causing the routing process to terminate unexpectedly. This occurs due to a lack of proper bounds checking and error handling mechanisms in the RIP protocol parser. The vulnerability is classified as a buffer over-read or improper input validation issue, which aligns with CWE-121 buffer overflow conditions and CWE-20 improper input validation patterns. The flaw exists in the network protocol processing layer where the system does not adequately sanitize incoming RIP version 2 packets before processing their contents.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication, making it particularly dangerous in production network environments. An attacker can simply send a crafted RIP packet to any device running vulnerable IOS XR software, causing immediate disruption to network routing services. The process crash results in complete loss of routing functionality until manual intervention or system reboot occurs, potentially leading to widespread network outages depending on the criticality of the affected device. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability aspect of the CIA triad and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1499.100 for network denial of service attacks. The affected devices may include core routers, edge devices, and any network infrastructure running IOS XR software that supports RIP version 2 protocol.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of network security measures including IOS XR software updates and patches provided by Cisco to address the specific flaw in RIP packet handling. Network administrators should implement access control lists to filter incoming RIP packets or disable RIP version 2 functionality if not essential for network operations. The recommended approach involves applying the Cisco security advisory patches that include enhanced input validation and proper error handling for RIP packet processing. Additionally, implementing network segmentation and monitoring solutions can help detect anomalous RIP traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider configuring the affected devices to use more secure routing protocols such as OSPF or EIGRP that are less susceptible to similar issues, while maintaining proper network monitoring to identify any unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date network security measures and highlights the need for robust input validation in network protocol implementations to prevent similar remote code execution or denial of service scenarios.