CVE-2026-75584
Deferred Deferred - Pending Action

ION-DTN Denial of Service via Zero-Length Payload

Publication date: 2026-09-10

Last updated on: 2026-09-10

Assigner: VulnCheck

Description
ION-DTN before 4.2.1-a.1 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to crash the ION process by sending a BPv7 bundle with a zero-length payload. The canonicalizePayloadBlock() function in bpsec_util.c passes bundle->payload.length to zco_clone() without validating it against zero, causing a failed CHKZERO assertion that triggers sm_Abort() and terminates the process with SIGABRT before any HMAC verification occurs, requiring no valid key or credential to exploit.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-10
Last Modified
2026-09-10
Generated
2026-09-10
AI Q&A
2026-09-10
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-75584
EUVD
EUVD-2026-75456

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
nasa-jpl ion-dtn to 4.2.1-a.1 (exc)
ion ion-dtn to 4.2.1-a.1 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-617 The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a denial of service flaw in ION-DTN versions before 4.2.1-a.1. It allows unauthenticated remote attackers to crash the ION process by sending a BPv7 bundle with a zero-length payload. The canonicalizePayloadBlock() function fails to validate the payload length before calling zco_clone(), triggering an assertion failure that aborts the process with SIGABRT. Exploitation requires no valid keys or credentials.

Detection Guidance

To detect this vulnerability, monitor ION-DTN processes for crashes with SIGABRT signals when processing BPv7 bundles. Check logs for assertions in canonicalizePayloadBlock() or zco_clone() failures. Use network traffic analysis tools to inspect incoming BPv7 bundles for zero-length payloads.

Impact Analysis

The impact is a denial of service where the ION process crashes, disrupting bundle processing and communication. Attackers can remotely crash nodes with BPSec policy rules covering payload blocks, including receivers with BIB-HMAC-SHA2 policies or relays with BIB sender policies. This causes service interruption without memory corruption or data exposure.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily impacts availability by causing a denial of service (DoS) through process termination. It does not directly affect data confidentiality or integrity, which are key concerns for GDPR and HIPAA. However, prolonged DoS conditions could disrupt services handling sensitive data, potentially leading to compliance issues if critical systems become unavailable.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade ION-DTN to version 4.2.1-a.1 or later immediately. If upgrading is not possible, disable BPSec policy rules covering payload blocks or apply network-level filters to block BPv7 bundles with zero-length payloads.

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