CVE-2018-5740

Description

A denial of service flaw was discovered in bind versions that include the "deny-answer-aliases" feature. This flaw may allow a remote attacker to trigger an INSIST assert in named leading to termination of the process and a denial of service condition.

Statement

The "deny-answer-aliases" configuration option is not enabled in default configurations of bind. Upstream states that this option is very rarely used. As such, if customers have not specifically enabled this option in configurations, the risk should be mitigated.

Mitigation

Disabling the "deny-answer-aliases" configuration option should prevent exploitation.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score7.57.57.5
Attack VectorNetworkNetworkNetwork
Attack ComplexityLowLowLow
Privileges RequiredNoneNoneNone
User InteractionNoneNoneNone
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedUnchanged
ConfidentialityNoneNoneNone
Integrity ImpactNoneNoneNone
Availability ImpactHighHighHigh

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

cve.org: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

An attacker that can trigger an assert statement can still lead to a denial of service if the relevant code can be triggered by an attacker, and if the scope of the assert() extends beyond the attacker's own session.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank ISC for reporting this issue. Upstream acknowledges Tony Finch (University of Cambridge) as the original reporter.

Frequently Asked Questions

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