CVE-2015-4556 in CHICKEN
Summary
by MITRE
The string-translate* procedure in the data-structures unit in CHICKEN before 4.10.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/23/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-4556 affects the CHICKEN Scheme implementation, specifically within the data-structures unit where the string-translate procedure resides. This issue represents a denial of service condition that can be exploited by remote attackers to crash the targeted system. The vulnerability exists in CHICKEN versions prior to 4.10.0, indicating a long-standing flaw that was not addressed in the affected release cycle. The string-translate procedure, which is designed to perform character translation operations on strings, contains a flaw that manifests when processing certain input parameters, leading to unexpected program termination.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the string-translate* procedure. When the procedure encounters malformed or specially crafted input data, it fails to handle the edge cases properly, resulting in a crash condition. This type of vulnerability typically falls under CWE-248, which describes an exception handling flaw where an exception is thrown but not properly caught, leading to application termination. The flaw represents a classic case of improper error handling that can be exploited through carefully constructed input sequences to trigger the crash condition.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risk to systems running CHICKEN versions before 4.10.0, particularly those exposed to untrusted input sources. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform denial of service attacks against applications built using CHICKEN, potentially disrupting services and causing system downtime. The remote exploitability aspect means that adversaries do not need local access to the system to trigger the vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as it can affect availability of critical applications that depend on CHICKEN for their operation, especially in web applications or server-side processing environments.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2015-4556 primarily involves upgrading to CHICKEN version 4.10.0 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the string-translate* procedure flaw. System administrators should prioritize this update across all affected environments, particularly those handling untrusted input. Additionally, implementing input validation measures and sanitization routines can provide additional defense-in-depth layers, though the primary fix remains the software upgrade. Organizations should also consider monitoring for exploitation attempts and implementing intrusion detection systems to identify potential attack patterns targeting this specific vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and T1553.001, related to subvert trust controls through code injection techniques that could be leveraged in similar contexts.