A malicious network attacker that can generate specially crafted packets may be able to cause an AirPort base station’s network interface to stop responding normally, resulting in a denial-of-service.

When configured in a WDS, Apple’s Airport Extreme and Express basestations can be made to crash when UDP port 161 is connected to, and then a link-state change occurs. The software responsible for bridging packets between the wired and wireless sides will stop responding, and the entire device will lock up (the status lights will not indicate an error). This occurs on both the wired and wireless interfaces of the device.

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Filed under: Apple - @ January 8, 2006 7:42 am