Vulnerabilities > CVE-2018-9918 - Uncontrolled Recursion vulnerability in multiple products
Attack vector
NETWORK Attack complexity
MEDIUM Privileges required
NONE Confidentiality impact
PARTIAL Integrity impact
PARTIAL Availability impact
PARTIAL Summary
libqpdf.a in QPDF through 8.0.2 mishandles certain "expected dictionary key but found non-name object" cases, allowing remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion), related to the QPDFObjectHandle and QPDF_Dictionary classes, because nesting in direct objects is not restricted.
Vulnerable Configurations
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
- XML Nested Payloads Applications often need to transform data in and out of the XML format by using an XML parser. It may be possible for an attacker to inject data that may have an adverse effect on the XML parser when it is being processed. By nesting XML data and causing this data to be continuously self-referential, an attacker can cause the XML parser to consume more resources while processing, causing excessive memory consumption and CPU utilization. An attacker's goal is to leverage parser failure to his or her advantage. In most cases this type of an attack will result in a denial of service due to an application becoming unstable, freezing, or crash. However it may be possible to cause a crash resulting in arbitrary code execution, leading to a jump from the data plane to the control plane [R.230.1].
- XML Oversized Payloads Applications often need to transform data in and out of the XML format by using an XML parser. It may be possible for an attacker to inject data that may have an adverse effect on the XML parser when it is being processed. By supplying oversized payloads in input vectors that will be processed by the XML parser, an attacker can cause the XML parser to consume more resources while processing, causing excessive memory consumption and CPU utilization, and potentially cause execution of arbitrary code. An attacker's goal is to leverage parser failure to his or her advantage. In many cases this type of an attack will result in a denial of service due to an application becoming unstable, freezing, or crash. However it is possible to cause a crash resulting in arbitrary code execution, leading to a jump from the data plane to the control plane [R.231.1].
- Violating Implicit Assumptions Regarding XML Content (aka XML Denial of Service (XDoS)) XML Denial of Service (XDoS) can be applied to any technology that utilizes XML data. This is, of course, most distributed systems technology including Java, .Net, databases, and so on. XDoS is most closely associated with web services, SOAP, and Rest, because remote service requesters can post malicious XML payloads to the service provider designed to exhaust the service provider's memory, CPU, and/or disk space. The main weakness in XDoS is that the service provider generally must inspect, parse, and validate the XML messages to determine routing, workflow, security considerations, and so on. It is exactly these inspection, parsing, and validation routines that XDoS targets. There are three primary attack vectors that XDoS can navigate Target CPU through recursion: attacker creates a recursive payload and sends to service provider Target memory through jumbo payloads: service provider uses DOM to parse XML. DOM creates in memory representation of XML document, but when document is very large (for example, north of 1 Gb) service provider host may exhaust memory trying to build memory objects. XML Ping of death: attack service provider with numerous small files that clog the system. All of the above attacks exploit the loosely coupled nature of web services, where the service provider has little to no control over the service requester and any messages the service requester sends.
- XML Parser Attack Applications often need to transform data in and out of the XML format by using an XML parser. It may be possible for an attacker to inject data that may have an adverse effect on the XML parser when it is being processed. These adverse effects may include the parser crashing, consuming too much of a resource, executing too slowly, executing code supplied by an attacker, allowing usage of unintended system functionality, etc. An attacker's goal is to leverage parser failure to his or her advantage. In some cases it may be possible to jump from the data plane to the control plane via bad data being passed to an XML parser. [R.99.1]
Nessus
NASL family Fedora Local Security Checks NASL id FEDORA_2018-F2E1C09437.NASL description Rebase to qpdf-7.1.1 because of security fixes for CVE-2018-9918, CVE-2017-11627, CVE-2017-12595. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues. last seen 2020-06-05 modified 2018-05-01 plugin id 109436 published 2018-05-01 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/109436 title Fedora 27 : cups-filters / qpdf (2018-f2e1c09437) code #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502 # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were # extracted from Fedora Security Advisory FEDORA-2018-f2e1c09437. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(109436); script_version("1.3"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/06/04"); script_cve_id("CVE-2017-11627", "CVE-2017-12595", "CVE-2018-9918"); script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2018-f2e1c09437"); script_name(english:"Fedora 27 : cups-filters / qpdf (2018-f2e1c09437)"); script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated packages."); script_set_attribute( attribute:"synopsis", value:"The remote Fedora host is missing one or more security updates." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"description", value: "Rebase to qpdf-7.1.1 because of security fixes for CVE-2018-9918, CVE-2017-11627, CVE-2017-12595. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"see_also", value:"https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2018-f2e1c09437" ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"solution", value:"Update the affected cups-filters and / or qpdf packages." ); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P"); script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:cups-filters"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:qpdf"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:27"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2017/07/25"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/04/30"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2018/05/01"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof."); script_family(english:"Fedora Local Security Checks"); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl"); script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/RedHat/release", "Host/RedHat/rpm-list"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("rpm.inc"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED); release = get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/release"); if (isnull(release) || "Fedora" >!< release) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora"); os_ver = pregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release); if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora"); os_ver = os_ver[1]; if (! preg(pattern:"^27([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 27", "Fedora " + os_ver); if (!get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING); cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu"); if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH); if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Fedora", cpu); flag = 0; if (rpm_check(release:"FC27", reference:"cups-filters-1.16.1-5.fc27")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"FC27", reference:"qpdf-7.1.1-5.fc27")) flag++; if (flag) { security_report_v4( port : 0, severity : SECURITY_WARNING, extra : rpm_report_get() ); exit(0); } else { tested = pkg_tests_get(); if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested); else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "cups-filters / qpdf"); }
NASL family Fedora Local Security Checks NASL id FEDORA_2018-B4EF545DB5.NASL description Security fix for CVE-2018-9918 Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues. last seen 2020-06-05 modified 2019-01-03 plugin id 120724 published 2019-01-03 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/120724 title Fedora 28 : qpdf (2018-b4ef545db5) code #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502 # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were # extracted from Fedora Security Advisory FEDORA-2018-b4ef545db5. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(120724); script_version("1.4"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/06/04"); script_cve_id("CVE-2018-9918"); script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2018-b4ef545db5"); script_name(english:"Fedora 28 : qpdf (2018-b4ef545db5)"); script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated package."); script_set_attribute( attribute:"synopsis", value:"The remote Fedora host is missing a security update." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"description", value: "Security fix for CVE-2018-9918 Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"see_also", value:"https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2018-b4ef545db5" ); script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:"Update the affected qpdf package."); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P"); script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C"); script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"); script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:qpdf"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:28"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/04/10"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/04/27"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2019/01/03"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof."); script_family(english:"Fedora Local Security Checks"); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl"); script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/RedHat/release", "Host/RedHat/rpm-list"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("rpm.inc"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED); release = get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/release"); if (isnull(release) || "Fedora" >!< release) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora"); os_ver = pregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release); if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora"); os_ver = os_ver[1]; if (! preg(pattern:"^28([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 28", "Fedora " + os_ver); if (!get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING); cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu"); if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH); if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Fedora", cpu); flag = 0; if (rpm_check(release:"FC28", reference:"qpdf-7.1.1-5.fc28")) flag++; if (flag) { security_report_v4( port : 0, severity : SECURITY_WARNING, extra : rpm_report_get() ); exit(0); } else { tested = pkg_tests_get(); if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested); else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "qpdf"); }
NASL family Ubuntu Local Security Checks NASL id UBUNTU_USN-3638-1.NASL description It was discovered that QPDF incorrectly handled certain malformed files. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause QPDF to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues. last seen 2020-06-01 modified 2020-06-02 plugin id 109600 published 2018-05-08 reporter Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2018-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/109600 title Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 17.10 : qpdf vulnerabilities (USN-3638-1)