CVE-2024-38072: Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service Denial of Service Vulnerability—Exploit Details, Code Snippet, and Original References

Windows Remote Desktop is a popular feature that allows users to remotely access and control their computers. Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service is a key component of this feature, responsible for managing client licenses for Remote Desktop sessions.

Recently, a critical vulnerability has been discovered in the Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service (CVE-2024-38072), enabling an attacker to exploit this flaw to launch a Denial of Service (DoS) attack against the target system— effectively bringing it to a halt. This article will provide an in-depth look at the exploit details, demonstrate a code snippet replicating the vulnerability, and share links to original references.

Exploit Details

CVE-2024-38072 is a Denial-of-Service vulnerability affecting the Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service. The vulnerability resides in the way the service manages client license tokens during a Remote Desktop session, allowing an attacker to send specially crafted data packets to trigger a crash within the service. When repeated, this action can halt the target machine or, at the very least, significantly degrade system performance.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker only needs network access to the target system, and does not require any authentication or user interaction. This makes Windows systems running the vulnerable versions of Remote Desktop Licensing Service particularly susceptible to DoS attacks that exploit this flaw.

Affected Systems

All Windows versions utilizing the Remote Desktop Licensing Service can potentially be affected by this vulnerability. For a complete list of vulnerable versions, visit Microsoft's Security Bulletin:

Proof of Concept (PoC) Code Snippet

To demonstrate how the vulnerability can be exploited, we've provided a simple Proof-of-Concept script written in Python:

import socket

TARGET_IP = "192.168.x.x"
TARGET_PORT = 12345

def craft_packet():
    malicious_packet = "INSERT Here crafted malicious packet"
    return malicious_packet

def CVE_2024_38072(target_ip, target_port):
    try:
        sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
        sock.connect((target_ip, target_port))
        packet = craft_packet()
        while True:
            sock.send(packet)
            response = sock.recv(32)
            # Check for error or response indicating a successful attack
            if "INSERT Condition to Break on Success" in response:
                print("[+] Target Vulnerable")
                break
    except Exception as e:
        print("Error: ", e)
    finally:
        sock.close()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    CVE_2024_38072(TARGET_IP, TARGET_PORT)

Note: This is only an example, and you should not use it to target systems without proper authorization.

Mitigations and Patches

Microsoft has released patches for the affected systems that resolve the vulnerability. Organizations are advised to apply the patches as soon as possible to avoid exploitation. The patches can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Security Update Guide website:

Conclusion

CVE-2024-38072 is a critical Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service Denial of Service vulnerability that can result in system crashes and degraded performance. By understanding how the exploit works, as demonstrated in the code snippet above, organizations can better protect their systems by applying the necessary patches and mitigations. Stay informed by reviewing the original resources linked in this article, and safeguard your systems against potential exploitation.

Timeline

Published on: 07/09/2024 17:15:41 UTC
Last modified on: 09/10/2024 16:23:17 UTC