^{CVE-2021-29997:}Buffer Over-Read Vulnerability in Wind River VxWorks 7 IKE Component

Overview

This vulnerability exists in the IKE component of Wind River VxWorks 7, a real-time operating system commonly used in embedded systems, industrial control systems, and network infrastructure. The buffer over-read vulnerability occurs when the IKE component processes malformed network packets, causing it to read data past the end of an allocated buffer. This could potentially allow attackers to:

• Access sensitive information from memory
• Cause system instability or crashes
• Potentially lead to denial of service conditions

The vulnerability is particularly concerning for critical infrastructure and industrial systems that rely on VxWorks for secure communications, as IKE is used for establishing secure VPN connections.

Remediation

To address this vulnerability, the following actions are recommended:

1. Update to Wind River VxWorks 7 version 21.03 or later, which contains patches for this vulnerability.
2. If immediate updating is not possible, consider implementing network-level protections:
   • Use firewalls to restrict access to IKE services (typically UDP port 500)
   • Implement traffic monitoring to detect and block malformed IKE packets
   • Consider disabling IKE functionality if not required for operations
3. Contact Wind River support for specific guidance if you're unable to update immediately
4. After patching, verify the fix by checking the system version and monitoring for any abnormal behavior

References

1. Wind River Security Advisory: https://support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=cve&on=view&id=CVE-2021-29997
2. Wind River Security Notices Page: https://support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=security-notices
3. Common Weakness Enumeration: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) - https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/125.html
4. MITRE CVE Entry: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-29997