CVE-2020-18735
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-18735 is a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in Eclipse IOT Cyclone DDS Project that allows attackers to crash the DDS subscriber server through specially crafted data. This affects systems running Cyclone DDS v0.1.0 for data distribution in IoT and industrial applications. The vulnerability can lead to denial of service and potentially remote code execution.
💻 Affected Systems
- Eclipse IOT Cyclone DDS Project
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise and data exfiltration
Likely Case
Denial of service causing DDS subscriber server crashes and service disruption
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and access controls
🎯 Exploit Status
Proof-of-concept available in GitHub issues; exploitation requires sending malformed DDS packets to vulnerable subscriber
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: v0.2.0 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/eclipse-cyclonedds/cyclonedds/issues/501
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Stop all Cyclone DDS services. 2. Update to v0.2.0 or later using package manager or source compilation. 3. Restart DDS services. 4. Verify version with 'cyclonedds --version'
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network segmentation
linuxIsolate DDS subscriber servers from untrusted networks
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 7400 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 7400 -j DROP
Disable vulnerable component
allTemporarily disable DDS subscriber functionality if not required
systemctl stop cyclonedds-subscriber
killall cyclonedds-subscriber
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit DDS traffic to trusted sources only
- Deploy intrusion detection systems to monitor for DDS protocol anomalies and crash patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Cyclone DDS version: 'cyclonedds --version' or examine installed packagesCheck Version:
cyclonedds --version || dpkg -l | grep cyclonedds || rpm -qa | grep cycloneddsVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is v0.2.0 or later and test DDS subscriber functionality with valid data📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Segmentation fault in cyclonedds logs
- Unexpected termination of DDS subscriber process
- Heap corruption errors in system logs
Network Indicators:
- Malformed DDS packets to port 7400
- Unusual traffic patterns to DDS services
- Multiple connection attempts to DDS subscriber
SIEM Query:
process_name:"cyclonedds" AND (event_type:"crash" OR exit_code:139 OR exit_code:-1073741819)🔗 References
- https://github.com/eclipse-cyclonedds/cyclonedds
- https://github.com/eclipse-cyclonedds/cyclonedds/issues/501
- https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/iot.cyclonedds
- https://github.com/eclipse-cyclonedds/cyclonedds
- https://github.com/eclipse-cyclonedds/cyclonedds/issues/501
- https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/iot.cyclonedds
