Uncontrolled Resource ConsumptionWeakness · CWE-400

CVE-2024-45163

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-22
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
The Mirai botnet through 2024-08-19 mishandles simultaneous TCP connections to the CNC (command and control) server. Unauthenticated sessions remain open, causing resource consumption. For example, an attacker can send a recognized username (such as root), or can send arbitrary data.

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 · moderate confidence

The Mirai botnet's CNC (command and control) server fails to properly manage simultaneous TCP connections from unauthenticated clients. When connections are established but not properly authenticated, the sessions remain open and consume server resources, leading to resource exhaustion that could be exploited by sending recognized usernames like 'root' or arbitrary data to keep sessions alive.

MitigationThis vulnerability exists within the Mirai botnet's own infrastructure; network defenders should focus on standard Mirai mitigation (blocking CNC traffic, updating IoT credentials, network segmentation) rather than expecting the botnet operators to patch their own code.

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

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 if running a Mirai CNC server
    Review running processes and listening network services for binaries or services associated with Mirai botnet C2 functionality. Check for suspicious processes on port 43 or common Mirai C2 ports.
    Affected if The system is confirmed to be running a Mirai botnet CNC server component
  2. Check for unauthenticated TCP session accumulation
    Use netstat or ss commands to observe established TCP connections that remain in ESTABLISHED state without corresponding authenticated sessions. Monitor for connections that persist without completing authentication flows.
    Affected if Large numbers of unauthenticated TCP connections accumulate and remain open beyond normal timeouts
  3. Monitor for username probing patterns
    Inspect network traffic or logs for repeated attempts to authenticate with usernames such as 'root', 'admin', or random arbitrary data being sent to maintain session liveness.
    Affected if Traffic logs show repeated unauthenticated connection attempts using recognized Mirai credentials or random data patterns intended to keep sessions alive
  4. Check for resource exhaustion indicators
    Monitor system resources (CPU, memory, file descriptors, network sockets) for exhaustion patterns that correlate with high volumes of unauthenticated connections.
    Affected if System experiences resource exhaustion (socket exhaustion, memory pressure) corresponding to unauthenticated connection load
  5. Verify authentication state management
    Review CNC server logs or code (if accessible) for proper session cleanup after failed or incomplete authentication attempts.
    Affected if Sessions from unauthenticated clients are not properly terminated and cleaned up, leaving persistent zombie connections

A defender is affected if they operate a Mirai CNC server and observe unauthenticated TCP connections accumulating without proper cleanup, leading to resource exhaustion.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

This vulnerability exists within the Mirai botnet's own infrastructure; network defenders should focus on standard Mirai mitigation (blocking CNC traffic, updating IoT credentials, network segmentation) rather than expecting the botnet operators to patch their own code.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,160
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-45163 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