CVE-2023-36321 – A buffer overflow vulnerability in COVESA's dlt... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-36321?

CVE-2023-36321 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). A buffer overflow vulnerability in COVESA's dlt-daemon up to version 2.18.8 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by sending specially crafted messages. This affects systems using COVESA's Diagnostic Log and Trace (DLT) protocol for automotive and IoT logging. The vulnerability is in the shared/dlt_common.c component.

📋 TL;DR

A buffer overflow vulnerability in COVESA's dlt-daemon up to version 2.18.8 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by sending specially crafted messages. This affects systems using COVESA's Diagnostic Log and Trace (DLT) protocol for automotive and IoT logging. The vulnerability is in the shared/dlt_common.c component.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

COVESA dlt-daemon
Systems using COVESA Diagnostic Log and Trace protocol

Versions: All versions up to and including 2.18.8

Operating Systems: Linux, Embedded automotive systems

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Affects systems with DLT daemon enabled and exposed to untrusted networks. Automotive ECUs and IoT devices using COVESA logging are particularly vulnerable.

📦 What is this software?

Dlt Daemon by Covesa

View all CVEs affecting Dlt Daemon →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, potentially allowing attackers to control vehicle systems or IoT devices.

🟠

Likely Case

Denial of service causing system crashes or instability in connected vehicle systems.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper network segmentation and access controls preventing exploitation attempts.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - While the service may be exposed in some deployments, automotive systems typically have limited internet exposure.

🏢 Internal Only: HIGH - If exploited within internal networks, could compromise critical vehicle systems and adjacent devices.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires sending specially crafted DLT messages to the vulnerable component. No public exploit code has been identified.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 2.18.9 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/COVESA/dlt-daemon/issues/436

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update dlt-daemon to version 2.18.9 or later. 2. Download from official COVESA repository. 3. Compile and install the updated version. 4. Restart the dlt-daemon service.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Network Segmentation

linux

Restrict network access to DLT daemon ports (default 3490/TCP, 3490/UDP) to trusted systems only.

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 3490 -s trusted_network -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 3490 -s trusted_network -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 3490 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 3490 -j DROP

Service Disablement

linux

Disable the DLT daemon if not required for system operation.

systemctl stop dlt-daemon
systemctl disable dlt-daemon

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict network segmentation to isolate DLT services from untrusted networks.
Deploy intrusion detection systems to monitor for buffer overflow attempts on DLT ports.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check dlt-daemon version: dlt-daemon --version. If version is 2.18.8 or earlier, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

dlt-daemon --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify version is 2.18.9 or later: dlt-daemon --version. Test DLT functionality remains operational.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Abnormal DLT daemon crashes or restarts
Large or malformed DLT messages in logs
Segmentation fault errors in system logs

Network Indicators:

Unusual traffic patterns to port 3490
Large payloads sent to DLT daemon
Connection attempts from unexpected sources

SIEM Query:

source="dlt-daemon" AND (event="segmentation fault" OR event="buffer overflow" OR event="crash")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-36321

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-120

Published: October 17, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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