CVE-2025-66216
📋 TL;DR
A heap buffer overflow vulnerability in AIS-catcher allows attackers to write approximately 1KB of arbitrary data into a 128-byte buffer, potentially leading to remote code execution or denial of service. This affects all users running AIS-catcher versions prior to 0.64. The vulnerability is in the AIS::Message class and can be exploited by sending malicious AIS messages.
💻 Affected Systems
- AIS-catcher
📦 What is this software?
Ais Catcher by Aiscatcher
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with full system compromise, allowing attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the AIS-catcher process.
Likely Case
Denial of service through application crash, potentially disrupting AIS data collection and monitoring capabilities.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper network segmentation and input validation are in place, though buffer overflow could still cause crashes.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending specially crafted AIS messages to the vulnerable application. No authentication is required as AIS-catcher processes incoming messages automatically.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.64
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/jvde-github/AIS-catcher/security/advisories/GHSA-v53x-f5hh-g2g6
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Stop the AIS-catcher service. 2. Download and install version 0.64 from the official GitHub repository. 3. Restart the AIS-catcher service. 4. Verify the version is 0.64 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allIsolate AIS-catcher from untrusted networks and implement strict firewall rules to limit sources of AIS messages.
Input Validation Filter
allDeploy a network filter or proxy that validates AIS messages before they reach AIS-catcher.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate AIS-catcher from untrusted sources
- Deploy intrusion detection/prevention systems to monitor for buffer overflow attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check the AIS-catcher version. If it's below 0.64, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
ais-catcher --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify the installed version is 0.64 or higher and monitor for crashes or abnormal behavior.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes
- Segmentation faults
- Memory access violation errors
Network Indicators:
- Unusual AIS message patterns
- Malformed AIS packets
- Traffic from unexpected sources
SIEM Query:
source="ais-catcher" AND (event_type="crash" OR event_type="segfault" OR message="*buffer overflow*")