Rule Category

PROTOCOL-DNS -- Snort alerted on a Domain Name Server (DNS) protocol issue. These packets travel over UDP on port 53 to serve DNS queries--user website requests through a browser. Several vulnerability use-cases exist (ie, additional data could be sent with a request, which would contact a DNS server pre-prepared to send information back and forth).

Alert Message

PROTOCOL-DNS Microsoft SMTP excessive answer records buffer overflow attempt

Rule Explanation

The SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) component of Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition, and the Exchange Routing Engine component of Exchange Server 2003, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malicious DNS response message containing length values that are not properly validated.

What To Look For

The SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) component of Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition, and the Exchange Routing Engine component of Exchange Server 2003, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malicious DNS response message containing length values that are not properly validated.

Known Usage

No public information

False Positives

No known false positives

Contributors

Talos research team. This document was generated from data supplied by the national vulnerability database, a product of the national institute of standards and technology. For more information see [nvd].

Rule Groups

No rule groups

CVE

Rule Vulnerability

Buffer Overflow

Buffer Overflows occur when a memory location is filled past its expected boundaries. Computer attackers target systems without proper terminating conditions on buffers, which then write the additional information in other locations in memory, overwriting what is there. This could corrupt the data, making the system behave erratically or crash. The new information could include malicious executable code, which might be executed.

CVE Additional Information

This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
CVE-2004-0840
Loading description

MITRE ATT&CK Framework

Tactic: Execution

Technique: Exploitation for Client Execution

For reference, see the MITRE ATT&CK vulnerability types here: https://attack.mitre.org