How the CVE Works:
The vulnerability in the protobuf crate arises due to uncontrolled recursion during the parsing of unknown fields in user-supplied input. When the crate processes a maliciously crafted message, it fails to handle deeply nested or recursive structures properly. This leads to a stack overflow, causing the application to crash. The issue stems from insufficient validation of input depth, allowing an attacker to exploit this weakness by sending specially crafted data that triggers excessive recursion. This can result in denial of service (DoS) or potentially allow further exploitation depending on the context in which the crate is used.
DailyCVE Form:
Platform: Protobuf Crate
Version: Affected versions
Vulnerability: Stack Overflow
Severity: Moderate
Date: Mar 7, 2025
(End of form)
What Undercode Say:
Exploitation:
- Craft a malicious protobuf message with deeply nested structures.
- Send the message to a service using the vulnerable protobuf crate.
- Trigger uncontrolled recursion, causing a stack overflow and crash.
Protection:
- Update to the latest patched version of the protobuf crate.
2. Implement input validation to limit recursion depth.
- Use stack canaries or memory-safe languages for critical parsing logic.
Commands:
- Check protobuf crate version:
`cargo tree | grep protobuf`
- Update protobuf crate:
`cargo update -p protobuf`
Code Snippet (Input Validation):
fn parse_message(data: &[bash], max_depth: usize) -> Result<(), Error> {
let mut parser = Parser::new(data);
parser.set_max_recursion_depth(max_depth);
parser.parse_message()
}
Analytics:
- Affected versions: All versions prior to patched release.
- Exploitability: Moderate, requires crafted input.
- Impact: Denial of Service (DoS).
References:
- GitHub Advisory: [bash]
- CVE Details: [bash]
- Protobuf Crate Documentation: [bash]
Mitigation Steps:
- Monitor for updates from the protobuf crate maintainers.
- Test applications with fuzzing tools to identify recursion issues.
3. Deploy runtime protections like stack size limits.
Fuzzing Command:
- Use `cargo fuzz` to test protobuf parsing:
`cargo fuzz run protobuf_parser`
Additional Resources:
- RustSec Advisory: [bash]
- Stack Overflow Prevention Guide: [bash]
References:
Reported By: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2gh3-rmm4-6rq5
Extra Source Hub:
Undercode
