CVE-2017-15908 - Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

Severity

50%

Complexity

99%

Confidentiality

48%

In systemd 223 through 235, a remote DNS server can respond with a custom crafted DNS NSEC resource record to trigger an infinite loop in the dns_packet_read_type_window() function of the 'systemd-resolved' service and cause a DoS of the affected service.

In systemd 223 through 235, a remote DNS server can respond with a custom crafted DNS NSEC resource record to trigger an infinite loop in the dns_packet_read_type_window() function of the 'systemd-resolved' service and cause a DoS of the affected service.

CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.5. CVSS Attack Vector: network. CVSS Attack Complexity: low. CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

CVSS 2.0 Base Score 5. CVSS Attack Vector: network. CVSS Attack Complexity: low. CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P).

Demo Examples

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CWE-835

In the following code the method processMessagesFromServer attempts to establish a connection to a server and read and process messages from the server. The method uses a do/while loop to continue trying to establish the connection to the server when an attempt fails.


               
}
...// create socket to connect to server
}// establish connection to server// if connected then read and process messages from server
...// read and process messages
// keep trying to establish connection to the server// close socket and return success or failure

However, this will create an infinite loop if the server does not respond. This infinite loop will consume system resources and can be used to create a denial of service attack. To resolve this a counter should be used to limit the number of attempts to establish a connection to the server, as in the following code.


               
}
...// initialize number of attempts counter
}// establish connection to server// increment counter// if connected then read and process messages from server
...// read and process messages
// keep trying to establish connection to the server// up to a maximum number of attempts// close socket and return success or failure

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CWE-835

For this example the method isReorderNeeded as part of a bookstore application that determines if a particular book needs to be reordered based on the current inventory count and the rate at which the book is being sold.


               
}
return isReorder;// get inventory count for book// find number of days until inventory count reaches minimum
days++;
// if number of days within reorder timeframe// set reorder return boolean to true
isReorder = true;

However, the while loop will become an infinite loop if the rateSold input parameter has a value of zero since the inventoryCount will never fall below the minimumCount. In this case the input parameter should be validated to ensure that a value of zero does not cause an infinite loop,as in the following code.


               
}
...// validate rateSold variable
return isReorder;

Overview

First reported 7 years ago

2017-10-26 14:29:00

Last updated 5 years ago

2019-10-03 00:03:00

Affected Software

freedesktop Systemd 223

223

freedesktop Systemd 224

224

freedesktop Systemd 225

225

freedesktop Systemd 226

226

freedesktop Systemd 227

227

freedesktop Systemd 228

228

freedesktop Systemd 229

229

freedesktop Systemd 230

230

freedesktop Systemd 231

231

freedesktop Systemd 232

232

Freedesktop systemd 233

233

freedesktop Systemd 234

234

freedesktop Systemd 235

235

Stay updated

ExploitPedia is constantly evolving. Sign up to receive a notification when we release additional functionality.

Get in touch

If you'd like to report a bug or have any suggestions for improvements then please do get in touch with us using this form. We will get back to you as soon as we can.