Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-37029

Linuxfoundation Magma ≤ 1.8.0

Public PoC
Published
21 January 2025
Modified
27 January 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0061 46th percentile
Risk Priority 58 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-37029 is a high-severity Reachable Assertion (CWE-617) vulnerability in Linuxfoundation Magma. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 46th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2023-37029 is an assertion-based denial-of-service vulnerability affecting Magma versions up to and including 1.8.0, specifically impacting the Mobility Management Entity (MME) component. The flaw triggers a crash when the MME processes an oversized Non-Access Stratum (NAS) packet, as rated at CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and mapped to CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion). This issue was fixed in Magma version 1.9 via commit 08472ba98b8321f802e95f5622fa90fec2dea486.

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no privileges required. Exploitation is possible either through a compromised base station or by using an unauthenticated cellphone within range of a base station managed by the vulnerable MME. By sending oversized NAS packets repeatedly, the attacker can cause ongoing crashes of the MME, resulting in a denial of service that disrupts network connectivity for users relying on the affected infrastructure.

Mitigation requires upgrading to Magma v1.9 or later, incorporating the specified fixing commit. Additional details on the vulnerability, including technical analysis, are available in the advisory at https://cellularsecurity.org/ransacked.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Magma versions <= 1.8.0 (fixed in v1.9 commit 08472ba98b8321f802e95f5622fa90fec2dea486) are susceptible to an assertion-based crash when an oversized NAS packet is received. An attacker may leverage this behavior to repeatedly crash the MME via either a compromised base station or…

more

via an unauthenticated cellphone within range of a base station managed by the MME, causing a denial of service.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-24420Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37024Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37037Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37025Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37026Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37031Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37036Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37027Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37033Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma
CVE-2023-37028Same product: Linuxfoundation Magma

Affected Assets

linuxfoundation
magma
≤ 1.8.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds reachable assertions during development.

Security engineering principles discourage use of assertions for handling untrusted input.

Validating untrusted inputs structurally prevents attacker data from reaching and triggering assertions.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent unsafe assertions from being coded in reachable paths.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software can detect assertion-triggered crashes as adverse events.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover and record reachable-assertion flaws before deployment.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect reachable assertions before release, reducing the likelihood of exploitation.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates defensive coding and input validation that prevent reachable assertions from being triggered by untrusted data.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify that assertions must not be reachable from attacker-controlled inputs.

prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage the use of assertions for runtime error handling that an attacker could exploit.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly ban the use of assert() or equivalent statements that can be triggered by external input.

References