Security Company-PivX Releases Multiple Vendor dDoS Game Server Vulnerability

Newport Beach, CA, January 16, 2003 : PivX Solutions, a leader in Network Security is pleased to announce the release of this advisory discovered by Mike Kristovich, a security researcher for PivX Solutions.

Affected applications include Battlefield 1942 Server, Battlefield 1942 Dedicated Server, Quake, Quake 2, Q3: Arena & Team Arena, Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Sin, Soldier of Fortune, Unreal Tourn., Unreal, Tribes 2, Jedi Knight 2, America’s Army, Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2003… and more, for a complete list of affected games please see the full advisory.

“As a basic rule of thumb, if it supports gamespy, it will likely be vulnerable.” Says Mr. Kristovich.

This vulnerability spans many games across multiple platforms. It is based upon UDP spoofing, certainly not a new trick in the black bag of any computer expert. Steve Gibson of GRC research as a good write-up on packet spoofing, as he himself fell victim to this tactic in 2001. Firewalls cannot always protect against packets that are forged as legitimate traffic on standard ports. “A personal firewall will such as ZoneAlarm will not prevent this DoS, as it is simply a flood of information being sent directly to the victim’s computer.” Describes Mr. Kristovich.

For more information please see the full advisory and subsequent pages by Mike Kristovich and PivX Solutions.
http://www.pivx.com/kristovich/adv/mk001/