CVE-2003-0213

PoPToP PPTP Server - Denial of Service via Invalid Control Packet Length

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 6 public exploits for CVE-2003-0213. PoCs published by Metasploit, blightninjas, einstein, including Metasploit module exploits/linux/pptp/poptop_negative_read.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This is a Metasploit module exploiting a buffer overflow in Poptop PPTP server (CVE-2003-0213) via a malformed packet with a negative length value. It includes brute-forcing for return addresses and dynamic payload space calculation.

Description

ctrlpacket.c in PoPToP PPTP server before 1.1.4-b3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a length field of 0 or 1, which causes a negative value to be fed into a read operation, leading to a buffer overflow.

Exploits (6)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Metasploit · rubyremotelinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/16845

This is a Metasploit module exploiting a buffer overflow in Poptop PPTP server (CVE-2003-0213) via a malformed packet with a negative length value. It includes brute-forcing for return addresses and dynamic payload space calculation.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Poptop PPTP server (versions prior to 1.1.3-b3 and 1.1.3-20030409)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target's PPTP port (1723) · Vulnerable Poptop version
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by blightninjas · cremotelinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/19

This exploit targets a buffer overflow vulnerability in PoPToP PPTP server versions older than 1.1.4-b3 and 1.1.3-20030409. It sends a maliciously crafted ECHO_RQST packet to overwrite the return address and execute shellcode, resulting in a reverse shell connection.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: PoPToP PPTP server < 1.1.4-b3 and < 1.1.3-20030409
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target PPTP server on port 1723 · Target server running a vulnerable version of PoPToP
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by einstein · cremotelinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/16

This exploit targets a buffer overflow vulnerability in PoPToP PPTP server versions prior to 1.1.4-b3 and 1.1.3-20030409. It bruteforces the return address to execute a reverse shell payload, granting root privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Racy
Target: PoPToP PPTP server < 1.1.4-b3 and < 1.1.3-20030409
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to port 1723 · Vulnerable PoPToP server version
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by John Leach · cremotelinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/22479

This exploit targets a buffer overflow vulnerability in PoPToP PPTP server versions older than 1.1.4-b3 and 1.1.3-20030409. It sends a maliciously crafted ECHO_RQST packet to overflow the buffer and execute arbitrary shellcode, resulting in remote code execution.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: PoPToP PPTP server < 1.1.4-b3 and < 1.1.3-20030409
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target server on port 1723 · Target server running a vulnerable version of PoPToP PPTP
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by spoonm · rubyremotelinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/9952

This is a Metasploit exploit module for CVE-2003-0213, targeting a buffer overflow in Poptop PPTP server versions prior to 1.1.3-b3 and 1.1.3-20030409. It uses a brute-force approach to achieve remote code execution by manipulating packet lengths and return addresses.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Poptop PPTP server < 1.1.3-b3, < 1.1.3-20030409
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target's PPTP port (1723) · Target running vulnerable Poptop version
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC GREAT
rubypoclinux
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/pptp/poptop_negative_read.rb

This is a Metasploit module exploiting a buffer overflow in Poptop PPTP server (CVE-2003-0213) via a malformed packet with a negative read length. It targets Linux systems and uses brute-forcing to bypass ASLR by guessing stack addresses.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Poptop PPTP server < 1.1.3-b3 and < 1.1.3-20030409
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to port 1723 · Vulnerable Poptop version
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (9)

Core 9
Core References
Exploit, Patch, Vendor Advisory vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/7316
Mailing List mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=105068728421160&w=2
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://www.novell.com/linux/security/advisories/2003_029.html
US Government Resource third-party-advisory x_refsource_cert-vn
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/673993
Patch, Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_debian
http://www.debian.org/security/2003/dsa-295
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/319428
Patch, Vendor Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/317995
Mailing List mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=105154539727967&w=2

Scores

EPSS 0.7103
EPSS Percentile 99.3%

Details

Status published
Products (6)
poptop/pptp_server 1.0.1
poptop/pptp_server 1.1.2
poptop/pptp_server 1.1.3
poptop/pptp_server 1.1.3_2002-10-09
poptop/pptp_server 1.1.4b1
poptop/pptp_server 1.1.4b2
Published May 12, 2003
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026