Vulnerability identifier: #VU83485

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 5.2 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-22217

CWE-ID: CWE-125

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
c-ares
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: c-ares.haxx.se

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary condition within the ares_parse_soa_reply() function in ares_parse_soa_reply.c. A remote attacker can trigger an out-of-bounds read error and crash the application.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

c-ares: 1.16.0 - 1.16.1

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External links
http://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/issues/333
http://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/09/msg00014.html
http://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/commit/1b98172b141fe874ad43e679e67506f9b2139043

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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.