Echo/Chargen UDP Packet Storm denial of service

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Echo and Chargen and classified as critical. The affected element is an unknown function of the component UDP Packet Handler. This manipulation causes denial of service (Storm). This vulnerability appears as CVE-1999-0103. In addition, an exploit is available. This vulnerability is considered historic because of its background and reception. It is advised to disable the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Echo and Chargen (the affected version unknown). It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown part of the component UDP Packet Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability (Storm). The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

Echo and chargen, or other combinations of UDP services, can be used in tandem to flood the server, a.k.a. UDP bomb or UDP packet storm.

The weakness was presented 02/08/1996 (Website). It is possible to read the advisory at ics-cert.us-cert.gov. This vulnerability is known as CVE-1999-0103. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/16/2026). Due to its background and reception, this vulnerability has a historic impact.

It is declared as highly functional. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 10198 (Quote of the Day (QOTD) Service Detection), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Service detection, running in the context r and relying on port 17. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 38002 (UDP Test-Services).

The best possible mitigation is suggested to be disabling the affected component. Attack attempts may be identified with Snort ID 271.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (8566), Tenable (10198) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-211†). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Name

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Name: Storm
Class: Denial of service / Storm
CWE: CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Highly functional

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 10198
Nessus Name: Quote of the Day (QOTD) Service Detection
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍
Nessus Port: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 10043
OpenVAS Name: Chargen
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

MetaSploit ID: chargen_probe.rb
MetaSploit Name: Chargen Probe Utility
MetaSploit File: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Disable
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍
Snort ID: 271
Snort Message: SERVER-OTHER UDP echo+chargen bomb
Snort Class: 🔍
McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

ISS Proventia IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

02/08/1996 🔍
02/08/1996 +0 days 🔍
02/08/1996 +0 days 🔍
11/30/1999 +1391 days 🔍
10/23/2002 +1058 days 🔍
06/17/2014 +4255 days 🔍
04/16/2026 +4321 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: ics-cert.us-cert.gov
Status: Not defined

CVE: CVE-1999-0103 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-1999-0103
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-13723
X-Force: 8566
Vulnerability Center: 211 - UDP Bomb Using Echo, Chargen and Other UDP Services, Medium

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013

Entryinfo

Created: 06/17/2014 16:50
Updated: 04/16/2026 08:14
Changes: 06/17/2014 16:50 (74), 05/05/2019 16:12 (2), 03/17/2025 16:46 (21), 10/27/2025 10:37 (3), 04/16/2026 08:14 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you know our Splunk app?

Download it now for free!