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GHSA-qwrx-45xf-jjf7 BIT-elasticsearch-2023-31419 CVE-2023-31419

Elasticsearch vulnerable to stack overflow in the search API

High Maven
Severity
6.5 / 10
High · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
61.07%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 99.16% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-121 Stack-based Buffer Overflow
CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write
Fix
7.17.13
Upgrade org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch to this version or later

Description

A flaw was discovered in Elasticsearch affecting the _search API that allowed a specially crafted query string to cause a stack overflow and ultimately a denial of service.

Affected versions

Maven

PackageVulnerableFixed in
org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
>= 7.0.0, < 7.17.13
7.17.13
org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
>= 8.0.0, < 8.9.1
8.9.1

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch Maven → 7.17.13

maven
<dependency><groupId>org.elasticsearch</groupId><artifactId>elasticsearch</artifactId><version>7.17.13</version></dependency>
gradle
implementation("org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:7.17.13")

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 6.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow

A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function).

How to prevent it
  • Operation, Build and Compilation: Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking. D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND [REF-1334] discusses canary-based detection in detail.
  • Architecture and Design: Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
  • Implementation: Implement and perform bounds checking on input.
  • Implementation: Do not use dangerous functions such as gets. Use safer, equivalent functions which check for boundary errors.
  • Operation, Build and Compilation: Run or compile the software using features or extensions that randomly arrange the positions of a program's executable and libraries in memory. Because this makes the addresses unpredictable, it can prevent an attacker from reliably jumping to exploitable code. Examples include Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) [REF-58] [REF-60] and Position-Independent Executables (PIE) [REF-64]. Imported modules may be similarly realigned if their default memory addresses conflict with other modules, in a process known as "rebasing" (for Windows) and "prelinking" (for Linux) [REF-1332] using randomly generated addresses. ASLR for libraries cannot be used in conjunction with prelink since it would require relocating the libraries at run-time, defeating the whole purpose of prelinking. For more information on these techniques see D3-SAOR (Segment Address Offset Randomization) from D3FEND [REF-1335].

CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write

The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

How to prevent it
  • Requirements: Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, many languages that perform their own memory management, such as Java and Perl, are not subject to buffer overflows. Other languages, such as Ada and C#, typically provide overflow protection, but the protection can be disabled by the programmer. Be wary that a language's interface to native code may still be subject to overflows, even if the language itself is theoretically safe.
  • Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. Examples include the Safe C String Library (SafeStr) by Messier and Viega [REF-57], and the Strsafe.h library from Microsoft [REF-56]. These libraries provide safer versions of overflow-prone string-handling functions.
  • Operation, Build and Compilation: Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking. D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND [REF-1334] discusses canary-based detection in detail.
  • Implementation: Consider adhering to the following rules when allocating and managing an application's memory: Double check that the buffer is as large as specified. When using functions that accept a number of bytes to copy, such as strncpy(), be aware that if the destination buffer size is equal to the source buffer size, it may not NULL-terminate the string. Check buffer boundaries if accessing the buffer in a loop and make sure there is no danger of writing past the allocated space. If necessary, truncate all input strings to a reasonable length before passing them to the copy and concatenation functions.
  • Operation, Build and Compilation: Run or compile the software using features or extensions that randomly arrange the positions of a program's executable and libraries in memory. Because this makes the addresses unpredictable, it can prevent an attacker from reliably jumping to exploitable code. Examples include Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) [REF-58] [REF-60] and Position-Independent Executables (PIE) [REF-64]. Imported modules may be similarly realigned if their default memory addresses conflict with other modules, in a process known as "rebasing" (for Windows) and "prelinking" (for Linux) [REF-1332] using randomly generated addresses. ASLR for libraries cannot be used in conjunction with prelink since it would require relocating the libraries at run-time, defeating the whole purpose of prelinking. For more information on these techniques see D3-SAOR (Segment Address Offset Randomization) from D3FEND [REF-1335].
  • Operation: Use a CPU and operating system that offers Data Execution Protection (using hardware NX or XD bits) or the equivalent techniques that simulate this feature in software, such as PaX [REF-60] [REF-61]. These techniques ensure that any instruction executed is exclusively at a memory address that is part of the code segment. For more information on these techniques see D3-PSEP (Process Segment Execution Prevention) from D3FEND [REF-1336].
  • Implementation: Replace unbounded copy functions with analogous functions that support length arguments, such as strcpy with strncpy. Create these if they are not available.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-mrfm-jxgf-2h6v
Elasticsearch Improper Access Control vulnerability
High Known exploited Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-w94p-6mhw-4qxw
Improper Access Control in Elasticsearch
High Known exploited Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-mm3m-5497-xggg
Elasticsearch Uncontrolled Resource Consumption Vulnerability
High Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-5xm9-x7x4-4j5x
Elasticsearch Vulnerable to Stack Overflow due to a Large Recursion
High Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-jgx4-7v3v-vwfm
Elasticsearch allocation of resources without limits or throttling leads to crash
High Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-5mpw-4546-2wcr
Elasticsearch Incorrect Authorization vulnerability
Medium Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-5v8f-xx9m-wj44
Elasticsearch stores private key on disk unencrypted
High Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp
Elasticsearch Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File
Medium Also affects org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
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