CVE-2024-44911: NASA CryptoLib Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2024-44911 Overview

CVE-2024-44911 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in NASA CryptoLib v1.3.0. The flaw resides in the Telecommand (TC) subsystem implemented in crypto_tc.c. CryptoLib provides a software-only implementation of CCSDS Space Data Link Security Protocol (SDLS) and its Extended Procedures (SDLS-EP) used in spacecraft communications.

The vulnerability allows a network-based attacker to trigger an out-of-bounds memory read by sending a crafted TC frame. Exploitation does not require authentication or user interaction. The condition is classified under [CWE-125] Out-of-bounds Read and primarily impacts service availability.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers can crash CryptoLib-based services by submitting malformed Telecommand frames, producing a denial of service against systems handling space data link security.

Affected Products

NASA CryptoLib version 1.3.0
Applications linking the crypto_tc.c TC processing module
Ground systems implementing CCSDS SDLS using CryptoLib

Discovery Timeline

2024-09-27 - CVE-2024-44911 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2025-03-18 - Last updated in the NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-44911

Vulnerability Analysis

NASA CryptoLib is an open-source C library that implements CCSDS SDLS and SDLS-EP for securing Telecommand (TC), Telemetry (TM), and Advanced Orbiting Systems (AOS) frames. The TC subsystem parses frames containing variable-length fields and security headers before applying cryptographic processing.

The vulnerability occurs during TC frame parsing in crypto_tc.c. The parser reads length and offset values from attacker-controlled frame data without sufficient bounds validation. When these values exceed the actual buffer size, subsequent read operations access memory beyond the allocated frame buffer.

The issue is tracked publicly in the project's GitHub Issue Report and analyzed in the VisionSpace Blog Analysis. The impact is limited to availability; confidentiality and integrity are not directly affected based on the published vector.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or inadequate length validation in TC frame processing routines within crypto_tc.c. Field lengths derived from frame headers are trusted without verifying they remain within the bounds of the input buffer before pointer arithmetic or memcpy-style reads.

Attack Vector

An attacker capable of delivering a TC frame to a CryptoLib-backed processor can trigger the condition. This includes any network path that feeds frames into the SDLS processing pipeline. Successful exploitation causes process termination, interrupting telecommand processing.

No public proof-of-concept exploit code is available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Technical reproduction steps are documented in the referenced VisionSpace research and the upstream issue tracker.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-44911

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected crashes or segmentation faults in processes linking CryptoLib 1.3.0
Core dumps referencing functions inside crypto_tc.c during TC frame parsing
Abnormal termination of ground-segment services immediately after receiving TC traffic from untrusted sources

Detection Strategies

Inspect TC frame ingestion logs for malformed frames preceding service restarts
Run CryptoLib under AddressSanitizer in test environments to surface out-of-bounds reads during fuzzing
Monitor process supervisors and init systems for repeated restart events on CryptoLib-dependent daemons

Monitoring Recommendations

Centralize crash telemetry and stack traces from ground-segment hosts running CryptoLib
Alert on anomalous TC frame sizes, malformed headers, or unusually high parsing-error rates
Track upstream commits and releases on the NASA CryptoLib GitHub repository for fix availability

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-44911

Immediate Actions Required

Inventory all systems linking NASA CryptoLib 1.3.0 and identify exposed TC ingestion endpoints
Restrict network reachability of CryptoLib-backed services to authenticated, trusted upstream sources
Apply strict frame size and source filtering at the network boundary in front of TC processors

Patch Information

At the time of NVD publication, no fixed release is referenced in the advisory. Track the upstream GitHub Issue Report for fix commits and update to a patched build of NASA CryptoLib once available. Rebuild dependent ground-segment applications against the patched library.

Workarounds

Place TC ingestion behind an upstream validator that enforces CCSDS frame length constraints before frames reach CryptoLib
Run CryptoLib-dependent services under a process supervisor with rapid restart and crash reporting
Apply seccomp or equivalent sandboxing to limit blast radius if the parser is crashed by a malformed frame

bash

# Example: restrict TC ingress to a trusted upstream host using iptables
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 1234 -s 10.0.0.10 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 1234 -j DROP