NASA ION-DTN 4.1.3s memory allocation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in NASA ION-DTN 4.1.3s. The affected element is an unknown function. This manipulation causes memory allocation. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2025-61910. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in NASA ION-DTN 4.1.3s. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown functionality. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory allocation vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-789. The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

The NASA’s Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) is an implementation of Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN). A BPv7 bundle with a malformed extension block causes uncontrolled memory allocation inside ION-DTN 4.1.3s, leading to receiver thread termination and a Denial-of-Service (DoS). The triggering bundle contains an extension block starting at `0x85070201005bbb0e20b4ea001a000927c0...`. The first byte in the extension block (0x85) indicates a CBOR array of five elements of which the first four are numbers (0x07, 0x02, 0x01, 0x00) but the fifth element is a byte string of length 27 (`0x5bbb0e20b4ea001a000927c0...`). The vulnerability seems to be due to processing the fifth element of the array (i.e., the byte string) as replacing it with a number makes the vulnerability no longer be triggered. While parsing this extension block, ION obtains a very large block length, which in the code in `bei.c`:764) seems to be passed from `blockLength` which is an unsigned int, to a 32 bit signed integer `blkSize`. The unsigned to signed conversion causes `blkSize` to hold the value of -369092043, which is then converted into a 64-bit unsigned value inside `MTAKE(blkSize)`, resulting in an attempt to allocate an unrealistic amount of memory, causing the error. As of time of publication, no known patched versions of BPv7 exist.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-61910 since 10/04/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2025-32887). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• NASA

Name

• ION-DTN

Version

• 4.1.3s

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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

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