AOL Instant Messenger 5.5 URI goaway memory corruption

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.
10.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in AOL Instant Messenger 5.5. This affects an unknown part of the component URI Handler. Performing a manipulation of the argument goaway results in memory corruption. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2004-0636. Moreover, an exploit is present.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in AOL Instant Messenger 5.5 (Messaging Software). It has been classified as very critical. This affects some unknown processing of the component URI Handler. The manipulation of the argument goaway with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Buffer overflow in the goaway function in the aim:goaway URI handler for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) 5.5, including 5.5.3595, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long Away message.

The bug was discovered 06/16/2004. The weakness was disclosed 08/09/2004 by Ryan McGeehan, Kevin Benes and Matt Murphy as confirmed advisory (CERT.org). The advisory is shared at kb.cert.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2004-0636 since 07/07/2004. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details and a public exploit are known. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/12/2025).

After even before and not, there has been an exploit disclosed. The exploit is shared for download at exploit-db.com. It is declared as highly functional. The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 54 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $0-$5k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 14267 , which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 38302 (AOL Instant Messenger Away Message Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product. Attack attempts may be identified with Snort ID 3085. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 2925.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (16926), Exploit-DB (395), Tenable (14267), SecurityFocus (BID 10889†) and OSVDB (8398†). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 10.0

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 10.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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

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

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Highly functional
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 14267
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

MetaSploit ID: aim_goaway.rb
MetaSploit Name: AOL Instant Messenger goaway Overflow
MetaSploit File: 🔍

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍
Snort ID: 3085
Snort Message: SERVER-OTHER AIM goaway message buffer overflow attempt
Snort Class: 🔍
TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

SourceFire IPS: 🔍
ISS Proventia IPS: 🔍
PaloAlto IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

06/16/2004 🔍
07/07/2004 +21 days 🔍
08/09/2004 +33 days 🔍
08/09/2004 +0 days 🔍
08/09/2004 +0 days 🔍
08/09/2004 +0 days 🔍
08/09/2004 +0 days 🔍
11/23/2004 +105 days 🔍
11/23/2004 +0 days 🔍
12/07/2004 +14 days 🔍
01/09/2015 +3685 days 🔍
07/12/2025 +3837 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: aol.com

Advisory: kb.cert.org
Researcher: Ryan McGeehan, Kevin Benes, Matt Murphy
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2004-0636 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2004-0636
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-22497
CERT: 🔍
X-Force: 16926
SecurityFocus: 10889 - AOL Instant Messenger Away Message Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Secunia: 12198 - AOL Instant Messenger "Away" Message Buffer Overflow Vulnerability, Highly Critical
OSVDB: 8398 - AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) aim:goaway URI Handler goaway Function Away Message Handling Remote Overflow
Vulnerability Center: 6314 - Buffer Overflow in AOL Instant Messenger 5.5, 5.5.3415 Beta, 5.5.3595 Allows Code Execution, Medium

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

Entryinfo

Created: 01/09/2015 17:08
Updated: 07/12/2025 17:42
Changes: 01/09/2015 17:08 (78), 06/05/2019 00:53 (10), 06/30/2021 14:14 (3), 06/08/2024 21:15 (15), 11/19/2024 21:06 (1), 07/12/2025 17:42 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:7F8:103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!