medium
5
CWE
310
Advisory Published
CVE Published
Updated

CVE-2012-1150

First published: Tue Nov 01 2011(Updated: )

Julian Wälde and Alexander Klink reported a flaw in the hash function used in the implementation of the Python dictionaries (associative arrays). A specially-crafted set of keys could trigger hash function collisions, which degrade dictionary performance by changing hash table operations complexity from an expected/average O(1) to the worst case O(n). Reporters were able to find colliding strings efficiently using meet in the middle attack. As various web application frameworks for Python automatically pre-fill certain dictionaries with data from the HTTP request (such as GET or POST parameters) for Python web application, a remote attacker could use this flaw to make Python interpreter use excessive amount of CPU time by sending a POST request with large amount of parameters which hash to the same value. This problem is similar to the issue that was previously reported for and fixed in e.g. perl: <a href="http://www.cs.rice.edu/~scrosby/hash/CrosbyWallach_UsenixSec2003.pdf">http://www.cs.rice.edu/~scrosby/hash/CrosbyWallach_UsenixSec2003.pdf</a>

Credit: secalert@redhat.com secalert@redhat.com

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
debian/python2.7
2.7.18-8+deb11u1
Python Programming Language<=2.6.7
Python Programming Language=0.9.0
Python Programming Language=0.9.1
Python Programming Language=1.2
Python Programming Language=1.3
Python Programming Language=1.5.2
Python Programming Language=1.6
Python Programming Language=1.6.1
Python Programming Language=2.0
Python Programming Language=2.0.1
Python Programming Language=2.1
Python Programming Language=2.1.1
Python Programming Language=2.1.2
Python Programming Language=2.1.3
Python Programming Language=2.2
Python Programming Language=2.2.1
Python Programming Language=2.2.2
Python Programming Language=2.2.3
Python Programming Language=2.3.1
Python Programming Language=2.3.2
Python Programming Language=2.3.3
Python Programming Language=2.3.4
Python Programming Language=2.3.5
Python Programming Language=2.3.7
Python Programming Language=2.4.1
Python Programming Language=2.4.2
Python Programming Language=2.4.3
Python Programming Language=2.4.4
Python Programming Language=2.4.6
Python Programming Language=2.5.1
Python Programming Language=2.5.2
Python Programming Language=2.5.3
Python Programming Language=2.5.4
Python Programming Language=2.5.6
Python Programming Language=2.5.150
Python Programming Language=2.6.1
Python Programming Language=2.6.2
Python Programming Language=2.6.3
Python Programming Language=2.6.4
Python Programming Language=2.6.5
Python Programming Language=2.6.6
Python Programming Language=2.6.2150
Python Programming Language=2.6.6150
Python Programming Language=2.7.1
Python Programming Language=2.7.1-rc1
Python Programming Language=2.7.2-rc1
Python Programming Language=2.7.1150
Python Programming Language=2.7.2150
Python Programming Language=3.0
Python Programming Language=3.0.1
Python Programming Language=3.1
Python Programming Language=3.1.1
Python Programming Language=3.1.2
Python Programming Language=3.1.3
Python Programming Language=3.1.4
Python Programming Language=3.2
Python Programming Language=3.2-alpha
Python Programming Language=3.2.2150

Remedy

http://python.org/download/releases/2.6.8/

Remedy

http://python.org/download/releases/2.7.3/

Remedy

http://python.org/download/releases/3.1.5/

Remedy

http://python.org/download/releases/3.2.3/

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Reference Links

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the severity of CVE-2012-1150?

    CVE-2012-1150 has been classified as a moderate severity vulnerability due to its potential to degrade dictionary performance in Python.

  • How do I fix CVE-2012-1150?

    To fix CVE-2012-1150, update to a patched version of Python, specifically versions 2.7.18-8+deb11u1 or later.

  • What are the affected versions of Python for CVE-2012-1150?

    CVE-2012-1150 affects Python versions prior to 2.7.18 and includes multiple earlier versions such as 2.6.7 and 3.1.x.

  • What type of vulnerability is CVE-2012-1150?

    CVE-2012-1150 is a denial-of-service vulnerability due to hash collisions that impact performance.

  • Can CVE-2012-1150 allow for remote code execution?

    No, CVE-2012-1150 does not allow for remote code execution but solely affects the performance of dictionary operations.

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