SolarisOperating system · Sun

CVE-2004-0791

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-04-12

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

59/100

Remediation priority · Elevated

Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

Multiple TCP/IP and ICMP implementations allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (network throughput reduction for TCP connections) via a blind throughput-reduction attack using spoofed Source Quench packets, aka the "ICMP Source Quench attack." NOTE: CVE-2004-0790, CVE-2004-0791, and CVE-2004-1060 have been SPLIT based on different attacks; CVE-2005-0065, CVE-2005-0066, CVE-2005-0067, and CVE-2005-0068 are related identifiers that are SPLIT based on the underlying vulnerability. While CVE normally SPLITs based on vulnerability, the attack-based identifiers exist due to the variety and number of affected implementations and solutions that address the attacks instead of the underlying vulnerabilities.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to reduce TCP connection throughput by sending spoofed ICMP Source Quench packets. TCP implementations that honor these messages (which are meant for congestion control) will unnecessarily throttle their transmission rate in response to attacker-generated packets, creating a blind denial-of-service condition.

MitigationModern TCP/IP stacks ignore ICMP Source Quench by default; legacy systems should be configured to disable processing of Source Quench messages, or network filtering/IPSec should validate ICMP packet sources.

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

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

SolarisOperating system

Affected:= 9.0= 10.0

SunosOperating system

Affected:= 5.7= 5.8

CVSS breakdown

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?

dbcve checks

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

Identify the SunOS/Solaris version

Run 'uname -a' or 'cat /etc/release' to determine the exact OS version

Affected if The version matches Solaris 9.0, Solaris 10.0, SunOS 5.7, or SunOS 5.8
Check if TCP honors ICMP Source Quench

Use 'ndd -get /tcp ignore_quench' to query the TCP parameter. A value of 0 means Source Quench is honored, 1 means it is ignored

Affected if The ndd query returns 0, indicating the system processes Source Quench messages
Alternative check for SunOS 5.x legacy behavior

Run 'ndd -get /dev/ip ip_respond_to_echo_broadcast' or check if the system has any ICMP filtering configured in /etc/rc2.d or /etc/init.d

Affected if The system has no filtering and responds to legacy ICMP congestion control messages

You are affected if you are running Solaris 9.0, 10.0, SunOS 5.7, or 5.8 AND the system is configured to honor (not ignore) ICMP Source Quench packets, which can be verified by the ndd parameter returning 0.

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

Remediation

From vendor data

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Modern TCP/IP stacks ignore ICMP Source Quench by default; legacy systems should be configured to disable processing of Source Quench messages, or network filtering/IPSec should validate ICMP packet sources.

Fix this in Solaris Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation2.0 h
Implementation4.0 h
Testing2.0 h
Review / QA1.0 h

9.0 hours of engineering $1,600

Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0791 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2004-0791?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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

At a glance

A fix existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 5.0 Medium

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 20.3%

Affects: Solaris

Remediation

Need this fixed?

Fix this in Solaris 9 hrs · Low

Typical engagement from $1,600

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

We specialise in CVE remediation. Send your environment and we’ll scope CVE-2004-0791 and return a fixed quote.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

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

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References