CVE-2014-3985 in Miniupnpd
Summary
by MITRE
The getHTTPResponse function in miniwget.c in MiniUPnP 1.9 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via crafted headers that trigger an out-of-bounds read.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/16/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3985 resides within the MiniUPnP software suite, specifically in the miniwget.c file version 1.9. This flaw affects the getHTTPResponse function which is responsible for processing HTTP responses from remote servers. The issue manifests when the function encounters crafted HTTP headers that cause an out-of-bounds read condition, leading to a potential crash of the application. This represents a classic buffer overread vulnerability that can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt service availability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the HTTP response parsing logic. When the getHTTPResponse function processes incoming HTTP headers, it fails to properly bounds-check the data before accessing memory locations. This allows an attacker to craft malicious HTTP responses containing specially formatted headers that cause the application to read memory beyond the allocated buffer boundaries. The out-of-bounds read typically occurs when the function attempts to parse header values or lengths without sufficient validation, resulting in memory corruption that ultimately leads to application termination. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions in software implementations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can be leveraged by attackers to perform systematic denial of service attacks against devices running MiniUPnP. Since MiniUPnP is commonly used in router and network device implementations for UPnP functionality, exploitation could potentially affect network infrastructure devices, making it particularly concerning for enterprise and residential gateway systems. The vulnerability can be triggered remotely without requiring authentication, making it an attractive target for automated attack tools. From an attacker perspective, this flaw maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network disruption through service denial, and T1595.001, which encompasses network infrastructure manipulation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-3985 involve immediate patching of affected systems with updated MiniUPnP versions that contain proper bounds checking and input validation. Organizations should implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect unusual HTTP traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify malformed HTTP headers can provide early warning of potential attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in network-facing applications and highlights the need for rigorous security testing of parsing functions. Security teams should also consider implementing rate limiting and connection throttling mechanisms to reduce the effectiveness of automated exploitation attempts while awaiting patch deployment.