CVE-2024-21342
Published: 13 February 2024
Summary
CVE-2024-21342 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 22H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 7.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-21342 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in the Windows DNS Client component. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 with a network attack vector, low attack complexity, and no required privileges or user interaction, resulting in high availability impact while leaving confidentiality and integrity unaffected. The weakness is tracked under CWE-400.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted network traffic to a vulnerable Windows system and trigger the denial-of-service condition, disrupting DNS resolution and dependent services without any prior access or user assistance.
Microsoft has published an advisory for CVE-2024-21342 on its Security Response Center site that addresses the issue. The current EPSS score of 0.0839, with a peak of 0.0860, indicates limited observed exploitation interest to date.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-19054
Vulnerability details
Windows DNS Client Denial of Service Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.
Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.
Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.
Updated contingency plans include current procedures to detect, contain, and recover from resource exhaustion, limiting an attacker's ability to sustain impact from uncontrolled consumption.
Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.
Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.
The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.
Timely maintenance support and spare parts enable rapid recovery from failures induced by uncontrolled resource consumption, shortening the impact window of denial-of-service attacks.