CVE-2023-41627
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-41627 is a vulnerability in O-RAN Software Community's ric-plt-lib-rmr v4.9.0 where the software fails to validate the source of routing tables it receives. This allows attackers to send forged routing tables to potentially disrupt or manipulate network traffic in Open RAN deployments. Organizations using affected O-RAN implementations are vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- O-RAN Software Community ric-plt-lib-rmr
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could redirect or intercept all network traffic through malicious nodes, enabling data interception, service disruption, or man-in-the-middle attacks across the RAN infrastructure.
Likely Case
Network disruption through routing table manipulation causing service degradation or denial of service in affected O-RAN components.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and source validation controls in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires network access to the vulnerable component but no authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: v4.9.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://jira.o-ran-sc.org/browse/RIC-1001
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update ric-plt-lib-rmr to v4.9.1 or later. 2. Restart affected services. 3. Verify routing table validation is enabled.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
linuxIsolate O-RAN components to prevent unauthorized access to RMR interfaces.
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <rmr-port> -s <trusted-networks> -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <rmr-port> -j DROP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit who can communicate with RMR interfaces.
- Monitor for unexpected routing table changes and implement alerting.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ric-plt-lib-rmr version: dpkg -l | grep ric-plt-lib-rmr or rpm -qa | grep ric-plt-lib-rmrCheck Version:
dpkg -l | grep ric-plt-lib-rmr || rpm -qa | grep ric-plt-lib-rmr || find /usr -name '*rmr*' -type f -exec strings {} \; | grep -i versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is v4.9.1 or later and test routing table validation functionality.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected routing table updates from unauthorized sources
- RMR service errors related to routing validation
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to/from RMR ports
- Routing table updates from unexpected IP addresses
SIEM Query:
source="o-ran-logs" AND ("routing table" OR "RMR") AND ("update" OR "modify") | stats count by src_ip