NTP BUG 2922: decodenetnum() will ASSERT botch instead of returning FAIL on some bogus values

Last update: June 28, 2022 20:06 UTC (57417e17c)

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Summary

Resolved	4.2.8p4	21 Oct 2015
References	Bug 2922	CVE-2015-7855
Affects	All ntp-4 releases up to, but not including 4.2.8p4, and 4.3.0 up to, but not including 4.3.77.	Resolved in 4.2.8p4.
CVSS2 Score	4.6	AV:N/AC:H/Au:M/C:N/I:N/A:C Base Score: 4.6, worst case

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Description

If ntpd is fed a crafted mode 6 or mode 7 packet containing an unusually long data value where a network address is expected, the decodenetnum() function will abort with an assertion failure instead of simply returning a failure condition.

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Mitigation

• Implement BCP-38..
• Upgrade to 4.2.8p4 or later.
• If you are unable to upgrade:
  • mode 7 is disabled by default. Don’t enable it.
  • Use restrict noquery to limit who can send mode 6 and mode 7 requests.
  • Configure and use the controlkey and requestkey authentication directives to limit who can send mode 6 and mode 7 requests.
• Monitor your ntpd instances.

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Credit

This weakness was discovered by John D “Doug” Birdwell with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA.org).

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Timeline

• 2015 Oct 21: Public release
• 2015 Oct 6: Early Access Program Release: Premier and Partner Institutional Members
• 2015 Aug 26: Notification to Institutional Members for 1593, 1774, 2382, 2899, and 2902
• 2015 Aug 20: Initial notification of 2902; analysis begins
• 2015 Aug 11: Initial notification of 2899; analysis begins