CVE-2017-14439 in EDR-810
Summary
by MITRE
Exploitable denial of service vulnerabilities exists in the Service Agent functionality of Moxa EDR-810 V4.1 build 17030317. A specially crafted packet can cause a denial of service. An attacker can send a large packet to 4001/tcp to trigger this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/13/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-14439 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the Moxa EDR-810 industrial network device firmware version 4.1 build 17030317. This device operates as a service agent that handles network communications on port 4001/tcp, making it a potential target for remote exploitation. The flaw specifically manifests in the device's handling of incoming packets through its service agent functionality, where improper input validation allows maliciously crafted packets to disrupt normal operations. The vulnerability stems from inadequate boundary checking and memory management within the packet processing routines, creating an exploitable condition that can be triggered remotely without authentication requirements.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. The device's service agent implementation fails to properly validate packet sizes and content before processing, allowing an attacker to send oversized or malformed packets that exceed the allocated buffer space. When the device attempts to process these malicious packets, the insufficient input validation causes memory corruption that leads to system instability and eventual service disruption. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it operates over TCP port 4001, which is commonly used for industrial communication protocols and device management, making legitimate traffic potentially vulnerable to this exploitation technique.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-14439 extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can compromise the reliability of industrial network infrastructure that relies on Moxa EDR-810 devices for communication management. In industrial control systems environments, such denial of service conditions can lead to cascading failures where communication breakdowns affect downstream processes and monitoring systems. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can initiate the attack from outside the network perimeter, potentially disrupting critical infrastructure operations without requiring physical access or network credentials. This characteristic places the vulnerability within the ATT&CK framework's T1499 category, specifically targeting network denial of service attacks that can be executed remotely against network infrastructure components.
Organizations utilizing Moxa EDR-810 devices should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate the affected devices from critical network segments, firewall rules to restrict access to port 4001/tcp, and network monitoring to detect anomalous packet patterns. The most effective long-term solution involves applying the official firmware update provided by Moxa that addresses the input validation flaws in the service agent functionality. Additionally, implementing intrusion detection systems with signature-based detection for known malicious packet patterns can help identify exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider conducting vulnerability assessments to identify other potentially affected industrial devices running similar firmware versions and establish monitoring protocols for unusual network traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of robust input validation in industrial network devices and highlights the need for security-by-design principles in critical infrastructure components that operate without traditional authentication mechanisms.