MOOS Core Denial of Service via Negative Serialized Length

Executive Summary

MOOS core-moos through 10.4.0 fails to validate that serialized string lengths are non-negative in CMOOSMsg::operator>>. Unauthenticated attackers can send a crafted message with a negative length value to the MOOSDB port, causing an unhandled exception that terminates the database process.

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Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires monitoring for crashes or unhandled exceptions in the MOOSDB process. Check logs for termination events or error messages related to negative string lengths. Use network monitoring tools to inspect traffic on the MOOSDB port for malformed messages with negative length values.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to crash the MOOSDB process by sending a specially crafted message. This could lead to denial of service, disrupting operations dependent on the MOOS system.

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Compliance Impact

This vulnerability causes denial-of-service by crashing the MOOSDB process, which could disrupt data availability. For GDPR, this may impact data integrity and availability requirements under Article 32. For HIPAA, it could affect access to protected health information, potentially violating the Security Rule's availability requirements.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediately update MOOS core-moos to a patched version if available. If not, restrict network access to the MOOSDB port using firewalls or network segmentation. Monitor the MOOSDB process for crashes and apply input validation patches if you have access to the source code.

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