CVE-2017-2153 in SEIL
Summary
by MITRE
SEIL/x86 Fuji 1.70 to 5.62, SEIL/BPV4 5.00 to 5.62, SEIL/X1 1.30 to 5.62, SEIL/X2 1.30 to 5.62, SEIL/B1 1.00 to 5.62 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via specially crafted IPv4 UDP packets.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-2153 represents a critical denial of service flaw affecting multiple SEIL (Software Engineering Institute for Linux) products across various architectures including x86 Fuji, BPV4, X1, X2, and B1 platforms. This vulnerability specifically targets the network stack processing of IPv4 UDP packets, where the affected software versions ranging from 1.70 to 5.62 in Fuji, 5.00 to 5.62 in BPV4, and 1.30 to 5.62 in X1, X2, and B1 architectures are susceptible to exploitation. The flaw resides in the improper handling of specially crafted UDP packets that can trigger system instability and complete service interruption.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the network packet processing routines of these SEIL products. When the affected systems receive UDP packets containing malformed or crafted data structures, the processing logic fails to properly sanitize or reject these inputs, leading to memory corruption or resource exhaustion conditions. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which describes improper validation of array indices, and CWE-121, concerning stack-based buffer overflow conditions that can occur when processing network data. The root cause demonstrates a classic lack of proper bounds checking and input sanitization in network protocol handlers.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to network infrastructure and system availability. Remote attackers can exploit this flaw by simply sending malicious UDP packets to targeted systems, requiring no authentication or specialized privileges. The impact manifests as complete denial of service conditions where legitimate network services become unavailable, potentially disrupting critical business operations, network communications, and system accessibility. The vulnerability affects both server and client implementations across the affected product lines, making it particularly dangerous for networked environments where these systems operate as part of larger infrastructure deployments.
The threat landscape for CVE-2017-2153 aligns with ATT&CK technique T1498, which focuses on network denial of service attacks, and T1595, covering network boundary compromise through protocol manipulation. Organizations utilizing affected SEIL products face potential operational downtime, service disruption, and increased maintenance overhead as they must implement emergency patches or workarounds. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can target systems from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access or network proximity, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments and service providers.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate deployment of vendor-provided patches or firmware updates that address the UDP packet processing logic. System administrators should also implement network-level filtering to block suspicious UDP traffic patterns and consider deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify and alert on malformed packet patterns. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their network infrastructure to identify all affected systems and establish monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts. The implementation of network segmentation and access control measures can help limit the potential impact should exploitation occur, while maintaining operational continuity through redundant systems and failover mechanisms.