CVE-2020-17440 : What You Need to Know

An issue was discovered in uIP 1.0, as used in Contiki 3.0 and other products. The vulnerability lies in the code that parses incoming DNS packets, leading to pointer dereferencing at an invalid/arbitrary address.

Understanding CVE-2020-17440

This CVE identifies a vulnerability in uIP 1.0 used in Contiki 3.0 and other related products.

What is CVE-2020-17440?

The vulnerability arises from the lack of validation for domain names' '\0' termination in DNS responses, causing errors in calculating pointer offsets and resulting in pointer dereferencing at an invalid address.

The Impact of CVE-2020-17440

The vulnerability allows attackers to exploit the DNS parsing code, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-17440

The technical aspects of the vulnerability in uIP 1.0 and Contiki 3.0.

Vulnerability Description

The issue stems from the failure to validate domain names' '\0' termination in DNS responses, causing pointer dereferencing errors in resolv.c.

Affected Systems and Versions

Products: Not specified
Versions: Not specified

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers can craft DNS responses with malformed domain names lacking '\0' termination to trigger pointer dereferencing vulnerabilities.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protective measures to address CVE-2020-17440.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply vendor patches or updates promptly to mitigate the vulnerability.
Implement network-level controls to filter out potentially malicious DNS responses.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update and patch all software components to prevent known vulnerabilities.
Conduct security assessments and audits to identify and remediate potential weaknesses.

Patching and Updates

Stay informed about security advisories from relevant sources and apply patches as soon as they are available.