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SuricataApplication · Suricata Ids

CVE-2019-16411

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-09-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
An issue was discovered in Suricata 4.1.4. By sending multiple IPv4 packets that have invalid IPv4Options, the function IPV4OptValidateTimestamp in decode-ipv4.c tries to access a memory region that is not allocated. There is a check for o->len < 5 (corresponding to 2 bytes of header and 3 bytes of data). Then, "flag = *(o->data + 3)" places one beyond the 3 bytes, because the code should have been "flag = *(o->data + 1)" instead.

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

Suricata 4.1.4 contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the IPV4OptValidateTimestamp function in decode-ipv4.c. The code incorrectly accesses memory at offset o->data + 3 when it should use o->data + 1, causing it to read beyond the allocated 3-byte data region when processing IPv4 packets with invalid options. This leads to accessing unallocated memory when malformed IPv4 packets with invalid IPv4Options are sent.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Suricata. If immediate patching is not possible, consider filtering or blocking malformed IPv4 packets with invalid options at upstream network devices.

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
SuricataApplication
Affected:= 4.1.4

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify Suricata installation and version
    Run 'suricata --version' or check package manager for installed version (dpkg -l suricata, rpm -qi suricata)
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.1.4
  2. Confirm IPv4 decoding is active
    Suricata processes IPv4 packets by default as part of its IDS/IPS function; check config file (suricata.yaml) for 'decode-ipv4' or verify the decoder module loads via 'suricata --list-decoders'
    Affected if IPv4 packet decoding is enabled (default state for Suricata IDS)
  3. Verify traffic exposure to Suricata
    Confirm that Suricata is actively inspecting network traffic (either inline in IPS mode or via sniffing in IDS mode)
    Affected if Suricata is processing live network traffic containing IPv4 packets

You are affected if Suricata version 4.1.4 is installed and is actively processing IPv4 network traffic, since the vulnerability triggers during decoding of malformed IPv4 packets with invalid options.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Suricata. If immediate patching is not possible, consider filtering or blocking malformed IPv4 packets with invalid options at upstream network devices.

Recommended fix High confidence

Suricata 5.0.0 or later (or 4.1.5 if staying on the 4.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Suricata version by running 'suricata --version'
  2. 2. Download the latest stable Suricata release (5.0.0 or later recommended) from the official repository at https://suricata.io/download/
  3. 3. Before upgrading, backup your current Suricata configuration (typically in /etc/suricata/)
  4. 4. Install the new version following the standard build process: ./configure && make && make install
  5. 5. Restore your configuration files from the backup
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by running 'suricata --version'
  7. 7. Test that Suricata starts correctly with your configuration using 'suricata -c /etc/suricata/suricata.yaml -i <interface>'
Caveat Major version upgrades (4.x to 5.x) may introduce configuration changes; review the release notes for breaking changes and update rules configuration as needed

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Suricata Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
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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-2019-16411 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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