#VU99956 Resource exhaustion in Linux kernel - CVE-2003-0187

Vulnerability identifier: #VU99956

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 2.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2003-0187

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to perform service disruption.

The connection tracking core of Netfilter for Linux 2.4.20, with CONFIG_IP_NF_CONNTRACK enabled or the ip_conntrack module loaded, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption) due to an inconsistency with Linux 2.4.20's support of linked lists, which causes Netfilter to fail to identify connections with an UNCONFIRMED status and use large timeouts.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's repository.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: All versions

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External links
https://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=105986028426824&w=2
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A260

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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 Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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