CVE-2024-14036: Dräger Medical Device DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2024-14036 Overview

CVE-2024-14036 is a denial of service vulnerability affecting Dräger Core 1.0.5 and Dräger M540 Converter Service 1.0.9. Network-adjacent attackers can send specially crafted, unencrypted Service-oriented Device Connectivity (SDC) messages during the discovery process. These malformed packets exhaust CPU resources in the affected process. Once exhausted, the service stops processing additional SDC messages, disrupting medical device communications on the hospital network. The flaw is tracked as a resource exhaustion weakness [CWE-400].

Critical Impact

Attackers with hospital network access can disable SDC message processing on Dräger medical devices, interrupting clinical device interoperability.

Affected Products

• Dräger Core 1.0.5
• Dräger M540 Converter Service 1.0.9
• Systems leveraging the gSOAP-based SDC discovery stack

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-06-02 - CVE-2024-14036 published to NVD
• 2026-06-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-14036

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in how Dräger Core and the M540 Converter Service handle SDC discovery traffic. SDC is an IEEE 11073 protocol family used for medical device interoperability and relies on SOAP messages over the network. The affected services accept unencrypted discovery messages and parse them without sufficient bounds on processing cost. A malformed message forces the service into expensive parsing or state-handling operations. CPU utilization rises sharply, starving the SDC processing loop. Subsequent legitimate SDC messages are then dropped or ignored, breaking device communication during clinical operation.

Root Cause

The root cause is uncontrolled resource consumption [CWE-400] in the SDC discovery handler. The implementation, built on the gSOAP toolkit, does not constrain CPU cost when parsing specific message structures. Refer to the Dräger Product Security Advisory and the VulnCheck Advisory on DoS for vendor and third-party technical context.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and does not require authentication or user interaction. An attacker on the same hospital network segment, or any segment that can reach the discovery endpoint, sends crafted SDC packets to the targeted service. Because discovery traffic is unencrypted, no cryptographic material is needed to forge valid-looking messages. The attacker repeats or amplifies the malformed message until the SDC process becomes unresponsive. No code execution or data exfiltration occurs; the impact is limited to availability of SDC communications.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-14036

Indicators of Compromise

• Sustained high CPU utilization on the process hosting Dräger Core or the M540 Converter Service
• Loss of SDC message processing while the host remains otherwise reachable
• Bursts of unencrypted SDC discovery messages from unexpected source addresses on clinical VLANs

Detection Strategies

• Monitor process-level CPU metrics for Dräger Core and M540 Converter Service and alert on sustained spikes
• Deploy network sensors on biomedical VLANs to inspect SDC and WS-Discovery traffic for malformed SOAP structures
• Correlate device disconnect events with concurrent network anomalies targeting SDC ports

Monitoring Recommendations

• Baseline normal SDC discovery volume per device and alert on deviations
• Forward Dräger Core and converter service logs to a centralized SIEM for retention and correlation
• Track source addresses initiating SDC discovery and flag hosts that are not authorized medical endpoints

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-14036

Immediate Actions Required

• Identify all hosts running Dräger Core 1.0.5 or Dräger M540 Converter Service 1.0.9
• Restrict network reachability of SDC discovery ports to authorized medical devices only
• Engage Dräger support to obtain the latest fixed firmware or service release
• Increase monitoring of clinical network segments hosting SDC-enabled devices

Patch Information

Dräger has published vendor guidance in the Dräger Product Security Advisory PSA-24-110-1. Operators should apply the vendor-provided update for Dräger Core and the M540 Converter Service and confirm versions in the asset inventory after deployment.

Workarounds

• Segment medical devices onto dedicated VLANs with strict ACLs limiting SDC traffic to known peers
• Block unencrypted SDC discovery traffic from untrusted network ranges at the firewall
• Disable SDC discovery on devices where the feature is not clinically required
• Implement network access control to prevent unauthorized devices from joining clinical segments