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OpenBSDOperating system

CVE-2004-0222

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2004-05-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.4 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Multiple memory leaks in isakmpd in OpenBSD 3.4 and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion) via certain ISAKMP packets, as demonstrated by the Striker ISAKMP Protocol Test Suite.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Multiple memory leaks exist in the isakmpd (ISAKMP daemon) in OpenBSD 3.4 and earlier. Remote attackers can send specially crafted ISAKMP packets that trigger uncontrolled memory allocation, eventually leading to memory exhaustion and denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to a newer OpenBSD version or apply the isakmpd patch if available. For legacy systems, consider network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted ISAKMP traffic.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpenBSDOperating system
Affected:<= 3.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify OpenBSD version
    Run 'uname -r' or check /var/run/dmesg.boot for the OS release version
    Affected if Version is 3.4 or earlier (e.g., 3.3, 3.2, 3.1, 3.0)
  2. Confirm isakmpd is installed
    Check for the presence of /usr/sbin/isakmpd or run 'which isakmpd'
    Affected if The isakmpd binary exists on the system
  3. Determine if isakmpd is running
    Run 'ps aux | grep isakmpd' or check for isakmpd processes
    Affected if The isakmpd daemon is currently running as a process
  4. Check if isakmpd is listening on network
    Run 'netstat -an | grep :500' or 'sockstat | grep isakmpd' to see if UDP port 500 is bound
    Affected if isakmpd is listening on UDP port 500 (the standard ISAKMP port), exposing it to network traffic
  5. Monitor for memory issues
    Check system logs in /var/log/messages or use 'vmstat 1' to observe memory usage over time, look for isakmpd memory growth
    Affected if isakmpd process shows abnormally high or continuously increasing memory consumption

You are affected if running OpenBSD 3.4 or earlier with isakmpd enabled and exposed to network traffic, especially if the daemon exhibits excessive memory usage.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a newer OpenBSD version or apply the isakmpd patch if available. For legacy systems, consider network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted ISAKMP traffic.

Fix this in OpenBSD Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0222 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data