CVE-2021-44498 – This vulnerability in FIS GT.M (and related Yot... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2021-44498?

CVE-2021-44498 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). This vulnerability in FIS GT.M (and related YottaDB) allows attackers to cause a denial-of-service crash through crafted input that triggers a NULL pointer dereference. It affects systems running vulnerable versions of GT.M/YottaDB database software. The impact is primarily availability disruption rather than data compromise.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability in FIS GT.M (and related YottaDB) allows attackers to cause a denial-of-service crash through crafted input that triggers a NULL pointer dereference. It affects systems running vulnerable versions of GT.M/YottaDB database software. The impact is primarily availability disruption rather than data compromise.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

FIS GT.M
YottaDB

Versions: All versions through V7.0-000

Operating Systems: All platforms supported by GT.M/YottaDB

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Vulnerability exists in the f_incr function which handles increment operations; any system processing crafted input through this function is vulnerable.

📦 What is this software?

Gt.m by Fisglobal

View all CVEs affecting Gt.m →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete service outage of database functionality, potentially disrupting critical applications that depend on GT.M/YottaDB.

🟠

Likely Case

Service disruption and application downtime requiring restart of affected database processes.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact if systems are patched or isolated from untrusted input sources.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - While exploitation requires specific crafted input, internet-facing systems accepting user input could be vulnerable.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal systems processing untrusted data could experience service disruption.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires crafting specific input to trigger the NULL pointer dereference, but no authentication is needed if the vulnerable function is accessible.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: V7.0-002 and later

Vendor Advisory: http://tinco.pair.com/bhaskar/gtm/doc/articles/GTM_V7.0-002_Release_Notes.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download GT.M V7.0-002 or later from official sources. 2. Backup current installation. 3. Install the updated version following vendor documentation. 4. Restart all GT.M/YottaDB processes.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Input validation and sanitization

all

Implement strict input validation to prevent crafted input from reaching the f_incr function

Process isolation

all

Run GT.M/YottaDB processes with minimal privileges and in isolated environments

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement network segmentation to restrict access to GT.M/YottaDB services
Deploy monitoring and alerting for abnormal process crashes or restarts

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check GT.M version with: $gtm_dist/mumps -version | grep 'GT.M'

Check Version:

$gtm_dist/mumps -version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify version is V7.0-002 or later using the same version command

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unexpected process crashes
Core dumps from GT.M/YottaDB processes
Error messages referencing f_incr.c or NULL pointer

Network Indicators:

Unusual patterns of input to database services
Multiple connection attempts followed by service disruption

SIEM Query:

process_name:"mumps" AND (event_type:"crash" OR error_message:"NULL pointer" OR error_message:"segmentation fault")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-44498

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-476

Published: April 15, 2022

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://tinco.pair.com/bhaskar/gtm/doc/articles/GTM_V7.0-002_Release_Notes.html Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
https://gitlab.com/YottaDB/DB/YDB/-/issues/828 Issue Tracking,Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://sourceforge.net/projects/fis-gtm/files/ Product,Third Party Advisory
http://tinco.pair.com/bhaskar/gtm/doc/articles/GTM_V7.0-002_Release_Notes.html Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
https://gitlab.com/YottaDB/DB/YDB/-/issues/828 Issue Tracking,Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://sourceforge.net/projects/fis-gtm/files/ Product,Third Party Advisory

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