Segmentation Fault in NASA cFS Health & Safety Application

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a flaw in NASA's Core Flight System (cFS) Health & Safety (HS) application. It causes the application to crash via a segmentation fault when processing a routine Housekeeping Telemetry request, resulting in a denial of service.

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Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires monitoring for crashes in the Health & Safety (HS) application of NASA's Core Flight System (cFS) when processing Housekeeping Telemetry requests. Check system logs for segmentation faults or application crashes during routine telemetry processing. Monitor network traffic for unusual patterns targeting the HS application. Ensure the HS application version is below 7.0.1, as this version is vulnerable.

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Impact Analysis

An attacker could exploit this flaw to crash the HS application, causing a denial of service. This would disrupt normal operations of the system relying on cFS, potentially leading to loss of critical functions in aerospace or other safety-related applications.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability causes a denial-of-service via application crash, which could disrupt critical operations in systems handling sensitive data. This may impact compliance with regulations like GDPR (data availability) or HIPAA (service continuity) if the affected Health & Safety application processes protected health information or personal data.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediately update the Health & Safety (HS) application to version 7.0.1 or later to patch the vulnerability. Isolate control systems behind firewalls and minimize network exposure. Use secure remote access methods like VPNs. Follow additional cybersecurity best practices such as monitoring for unusual activity and applying principle of least privilege.

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