CVE-2021-38311 Explained : Impact and Mitigation
Discover the impact and mitigation strategies for CVE-2021-38311, a Contiki 3.0 vulnerability leading to denial of service and excessive CPU consumption due to acknowledgment loops in the Telnet service.
Contiki 3.0 contains a vulnerability that could result in denial of service and excessive CPU consumption due to potential nonterminating acknowledgment loops in the Telnet service.
Understanding CVE-2021-38311
In Contiki 3.0, a flaw exists in the Telnet service that may lead to infinite acknowledgment loops, potentially causing denial of service and high CPU usage.
What is CVE-2021-38311?
The Telnet service in Contiki 3.0 has a vulnerability where servers respond improperly to certain requests, resulting in nonterminating acknowledgment loops.
The Impact of CVE-2021-38311
This vulnerability can result in denial of service as servers may enter infinite acknowledgment loops, leading to excessive CPU consumption.
Technical Details of CVE-2021-38311
Contiki 3.0's Telnet service vulnerability is described in detail below:
Vulnerability Description
- Acknowledgment loops may occur in Telnet service
- Servers respond to certain requests incorrectly
Affected Systems and Versions
- Product: Not applicable
- Vendor: Not applicable
- Version: Not applicable
Exploitation Mechanism
- When negotiated options are disabled, servers respond improperly, causing acknowledgment loops
Mitigation and Prevention
Immediate actions and long-term security practices are key to managing CVE-2021-38311:
Immediate Steps to Take
- Update Contiki 3.0 to the latest version
- Consider disabling Telnet service if not essential
Long-Term Security Practices
- Regularly monitor CPU usage for abnormalities
- Implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential denial of service attacks
- Educate users on safe network practices
Patching and Updates
- Apply patches from the vendor promptly