CVE-2020-28723
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-28723 is a memory leak vulnerability in the IPv6Param::setAddress function of CloudAvid PParam library version 1.3.1. This vulnerability allows attackers to cause denial of service through resource exhaustion by repeatedly triggering the memory leak. Systems using the vulnerable PParam library for IPv6 address handling are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- CloudAvid PParam library
📦 What is this software?
Pparam by Cloudavid
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system unavailability due to memory exhaustion, potentially leading to service disruption and requiring system restart.
Likely Case
Degraded performance and eventual service interruption as available memory is gradually consumed.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper memory monitoring and restart policies in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires ability to call the vulnerable function with crafted input. Fuzzing tools and proof-of-concept code are publicly available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.3.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/CloudAvid/PParam/issues/9
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update PParam library to version 1.3.2 or later. 2. Recompile any applications using the library. 3. Restart affected services.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable IPv6 functionality
allIf IPv6 functionality is not required, disable or remove IPv6 parameter handling in affected applications.
Implement memory usage limits
linuxSet memory limits on processes using the vulnerable library to prevent complete system exhaustion.
ulimit -v [memory_limit_in_kb]
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation for IPv6 address parameters
- Deploy memory monitoring with automated alerts for abnormal consumption patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if applications link against PParam library version 1.3.1 using ldd (Linux) or dependency walker tools.Check Version:
strings /path/to/libpparam.so | grep 'PParam version'Verify Fix Applied:
Verify PParam library version is 1.3.2 or later and test IPv6 parameter handling functions.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Abnormal memory consumption patterns
- Process crashes with out-of-memory errors
- Repeated calls to IPv6 parameter functions
Network Indicators:
- Unusual volume of IPv6 parameter manipulation requests
- Traffic patterns targeting specific IPv6 handling endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="system_logs" ("out of memory" OR "memory allocation failed") AND process="*pparam*"