CVE-2019-16786
First published: Fri Dec 20 2019(Updated: )
### Impact Waitress would parse the `Transfer-Encoding` header and only look for a single string value, if that value was not `chunked` it would fall through and use the `Content-Length` header instead. According to the HTTP standard `Transfer-Encoding` should be a comma separated list, with the inner-most encoding first, followed by any further transfer codings, ending with `chunked`. Requests sent with: ``` Transfer-Encoding: gzip, chunked ``` Would incorrectly get ignored, and the request would use a `Content-Length` header instead to determine the body size of the HTTP message. This could allow for Waitress to treat a single request as multiple requests in the case of HTTP pipelining. ### Patches This issue is fixed in Waitress 1.4.0. This brings a range of changes to harden Waitress against potential HTTP request confusions, and may change the behaviour of Waitress behind non-conformist proxies. Waitress will now return a 501 Not Implemented error if the `Transfer-Encoding` is not `chunked` or contains multiple elements. Waitress does not support any transfer codings such as `gzip` or `deflate`. The Pylons Project recommends upgrading as soon as possible, while validating that the changes in Waitress don't cause any changes in behavior. ### Workarounds Various reverse proxies may have protections against sending potentially bad HTTP requests to the backend, and or hardening against potential issues like this. If the reverse proxy doesn't use HTTP/1.1 for connecting to the backend issues are also somewhat mitigated, as HTTP pipelining does not exist in HTTP/1.0 and Waitress will close the connection after every single request (unless the Keep Alive header is explicitly sent... so this is not a fool proof security method). ### Issues/more security issues: * open an issue at https://github.com/Pylons/waitress/issues (if not sensitive or security related) * email the Pylons Security mailing list: pylons-project-security@googlegroups.com (if security related)
Credit: security-advisories@github.com security-advisories@github.com
| Affected Software | Affected Version | How to fix |
|---|---|---|
| pip/waitress | <1.4.0 | 1.4.0 |
| redhat/waitress | <1.4.0 | 1.4.0 |
| redhat/python-waitress | <0:1.4.2-1.el8 | 0:1.4.2-1.el8 |
| Agendaless Waitress | <1.3.1 | |
| Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Function Cloud Native Environment | =1.10.0 | |
| Debian Debian Linux | =9.0 | |
| Fedoraproject Fedora | =30 | |
| Fedoraproject Fedora | =31 | |
| Redhat Openstack | =15 | |
| debian/waitress | 1.2.0~b2-2+deb10u1 1.4.4-1.1+deb11u1 2.1.2-2 |
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Reference Links
- https://github.com/Pylons/waitress/security/advisories/GHSA-g2xc-35jw-c63p
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16786
- https://github.com/Pylons/waitress/commit/f11093a6b3240fc26830b6111e826128af7771c3
- https://docs.pylonsproject.org/projects/waitress/en/latest/#security-fixes
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GVDHR2DNKCNQ7YQXISJ45NT4IQDX3LJ7/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LYEOTGWJZVKPRXX2HBNVIYWCX73QYPM5/
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0720
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/05/msg00011.html
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-g2xc-35jw-c63p (Advisory)
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi/show_bug.cgi?id=1791417
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi/show_bug.cgi?id=1791416
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi/show_bug.cgi?id=1791418
- https://docs.pylonsproject.org/projects/waitress/en/latest/#id6
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2019-16786
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:0420
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1791415
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-16786 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16786 https://docs.pylonsproject.org/projects/waitress/en/latest/#id6
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-16786
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2019-16786?
CVE-2019-16786 is a vulnerability that affects Waitress through version 1.3.1.
What is the impact of CVE-2019-16786?
The impact of CVE-2019-16786 is that Waitress would parse the Transfer-Encoding header and only look for a single string value instead of a comma separated list as required by the HTTP standard.
How can CVE-2019-16786 be exploited?
CVE-2019-16786 can be exploited by sending a malicious Transfer-Encoding header that does not contain the 'chunked' value.
What is the severity of CVE-2019-16786?
The severity of CVE-2019-16786 is high with a severity value of 7.
How can I fix CVE-2019-16786?
To fix CVE-2019-16786, upgrade Waitress to version 1.4.0 or later.
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