CVE-2024-44910: NASA Cryptolib Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2024-44910 Overview

CVE-2024-44910 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in NASA CryptoLib v1.3.0. The flaw resides in the Advanced Orbiting Systems (AOS) subsystem implemented in crypto_aos.c. CryptoLib provides a software-only solution for the Space Data Link Security (SDLS) Protocol used in spacecraft communications.

Attackers can trigger the out-of-bounds read by sending malformed AOS frames to a process linking the library. The condition causes the process to crash, producing a denial of service against the cryptographic service. The issue is tracked under [CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read].

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can crash any application linking NASA CryptoLib v1.3.0 by submitting malformed AOS frames, disrupting spacecraft data link security operations.

Affected Products

• NASA CryptoLib version 1.3.0
• Applications linking crypto_aos.c from the AOS subsystem
• Space Data Link Security (SDLS) implementations built on CryptoLib 1.3.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-09-27 - CVE-2024-44910 published to the National Vulnerability Database
• 2025-03-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-44910

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is an out-of-bounds read in the AOS frame processing path inside crypto_aos.c. CryptoLib parses AOS Transfer Frames as part of the SDLS protocol stack. When the parser processes a crafted frame, it reads memory beyond the bounds of the allocated buffer.

The out-of-bounds read forces the application into an invalid memory access state. On most operating systems, the access triggers a segmentation fault and immediately terminates the host process. Because AOS is a core protocol path, the impact is service-wide rather than isolated to a single session.

The attack is network-reachable, requires no authentication, and needs no user interaction. The confidentiality and integrity impact are scoped to none, while availability impact is high. See the Vision Space technical analysis and the upstream GitHub issue for reproduction details.

Root Cause

The AOS parser in crypto_aos.c does not validate frame length fields against the actual buffer size before dereferencing data offsets. A frame containing crafted header values causes the parser to compute an offset that exceeds the allocated buffer. The read then accesses unmapped or unrelated memory.

Attack Vector

An unauthenticated attacker delivers a malformed AOS Transfer Frame over any channel that feeds the CryptoLib AOS parser. This typically includes ground station ingest pipelines, telemetry relays, or test harnesses exposing the library over a network interface. The malformed frame causes the consuming process to abort, denying SDLS services to legitimate spacecraft links.

No public proof-of-concept code is referenced in the NVD record. Technical details are documented in the upstream issue tracker and the third-party analysis listed above.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-44910

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected process termination or segmentation faults in services linking libcryptolib or invoking crypto_aos.c routines
• Core dumps referencing AOS frame parsing functions in the call stack
• Repeated reconnection attempts from clients after AOS frame submission, indicating service crash and restart loops
• Inbound AOS frames with length or header fields that do not match the declared payload size

Detection Strategies

• Monitor host telemetry for abnormal exits of processes that embed CryptoLib 1.3.0
• Inspect AOS Transfer Frame ingestion logs for malformed length, version, or virtual channel fields
• Correlate crash events with the source addresses of recent AOS frame submissions to identify the originating attacker
• Run CryptoLib in a sandbox with AddressSanitizer to capture the precise read offset during triage

Monitoring Recommendations

• Centralize crash logs from all spacecraft ground systems running CryptoLib and alert on segmentation faults in AOS code paths
• Track CryptoLib version inventory across mission systems to confirm exposure to version 1.3.0
• Enable network capture on AOS ingest interfaces to retain frame contents for post-incident reconstruction

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-44910

Immediate Actions Required

• Identify every system running NASA CryptoLib 1.3.0 and isolate those exposed to untrusted AOS frame sources
• Restrict AOS frame ingestion to authenticated and validated ground network paths only
• Deploy network filtering to reject AOS frames with inconsistent length and header fields before they reach CryptoLib
• Subscribe to the NASA CryptoLib GitHub repository for upstream fix notifications

Patch Information

No vendor security advisory URL is recorded in the NVD entry at the time of writing. Track the GitHub issue #268 for the official remediation commit and any subsequent CryptoLib release that supersedes 1.3.0.

Workarounds

• Disable the AOS subsystem in CryptoLib if the mission profile permits using only TM or TC framing
• Place a validating proxy in front of CryptoLib to enforce strict AOS frame length and header checks
• Run CryptoLib processes under a supervisor that restarts the service automatically to limit downtime during exploitation attempts
• Apply seccomp or process isolation to limit blast radius if the host process is terminated

# Example: restrict AOS ingest port to trusted ground subnet only
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 1234 -s 10.10.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 1234 -j DROP