CVE-2022-42011 is a vulnerability affecting multiple versions of the D-Bus interprocess communication system, specifically versions before 1.12.24, 1.13.x, 1.14.x before 1.14.4, and 1.15.x before 1.15.2. D-Bus is widely used in Linux-based systems to allow communication between different software components. The vulnerability arises when an authenticated attacker sends a specially crafted message containing an array whose length does not match the expected size of the element type. This inconsistency triggers a crash in the dbus-daemon process and potentially other programs that utilize the libdbus library. The root cause relates to improper validation of array length fields, classified under CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Array Index). Exploitation requires the attacker to have some level of authentication on the target system, but no user interaction is needed. The impact is a denial of service (DoS) condition due to process crashes, affecting availability but not confidentiality or integrity. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.5 (medium severity), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, required privileges, no user interaction, and impact limited to availability. No known exploits in the wild have been reported, and no vendor or product-specific details are provided beyond the D-Bus versions affected. This vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation in IPC mechanisms to prevent service disruption.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2022-42011 is the potential for denial of service on Linux systems that rely on vulnerable versions of D-Bus. Since D-Bus is a core component in many Linux distributions, including those used in enterprise servers, desktops, and embedded devices, exploitation could disrupt critical services and applications that depend on IPC. This could affect operational continuity in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and public administration, where Linux systems are prevalent. Although the vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact could lead to downtime, loss of productivity, and increased operational costs. Organizations with multi-user environments or those exposing services to authenticated users (e.g., via SSH or other remote access) are at higher risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat levels, but the medium severity score and ease of triggering a crash warrant timely patching and mitigation to prevent potential DoS attacks.

1. Apply patches: Upgrade D-Bus to versions 1.12.24 or later, 1.14.4 or later, or 1.15.2 or later as appropriate for your distribution. Monitor vendor advisories for backported fixes if using long-term support distributions. 2. Restrict authenticated access: Limit the number of users and services with authenticated access to systems running vulnerable D-Bus versions. Use strong authentication mechanisms and network segmentation to reduce exposure. 3. Monitor logs: Implement monitoring for unusual dbus-daemon crashes or IPC failures that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4. Harden IPC usage: Review and restrict which applications and users can send messages over D-Bus, using policies or access control mechanisms to minimize attack surface. 5. Incident response readiness: Prepare to quickly restart affected services or systems in case of a DoS event and have contingency plans to maintain service availability. 6. Use security tools: Employ runtime protection or anomaly detection tools that can identify malformed IPC messages or abnormal process behavior related to dbus-daemon.