#VU67777 NULL pointer dereference in Inetutils - GNU network utilities - CVE-2022-39028

Vulnerability identifier: #VU67777

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 4.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-39028

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Inetutils - GNU network utilities
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: GNU

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error in telnetd daemon. A remote attacker can trigger NULL pointer dereference via 0xff 0xf7 or 0xff 0xf8 and crash telnetd.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Inetutils - GNU network utilities: 1.4.0 - 2.3

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External links
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2022-08/msg00002.html
https://git.hadrons.org/cgit/debian/pkgs/inetutils.git/commit/?id=113da8021710d871c7dd72d2a4d5615d42d64289
https://pierrekim.github.io/blog/2022-08-24-2-byte-dos-freebsd-netbsd-telnetd-netkit-telnetd-inetutils-telnetd-kerberos-telnetd.html

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the local network (LAN).

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.