Executive brief
A vulnerability in the way certain operating systems handle network routing update messages can allow an attacker to remotely crash or freeze a computer. This affects the availability of the system, potentially causing service outages or data loss if the system is not restarted. The issue stems from how the system processes Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) redirect packets.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a denial-of-service flaw resulting from improper input validation (CWE-20) of ICMP redirect messages. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted ICMP redirect packets to a target host. If the host's network stack does not correctly validate these messages, it can lead to a system crash or a kernel-level lockup. This issue was historically associated with Microsoft Windows NT and other legacy network stacks that processed ICMP redirects without sufficient verification of the source or packet integrity. Patch information is referenced in legacy Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q154174.
Affected products
- Microsoft Windows NT
Timeline
- 1997-01-01: disclosed
- 1997-01-01: advisory