CVE-2020-8285

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Last Modified: UTC

Description

Libcurl offers a wildcard matching functionality, which allows a callback (set with `CURLOPT_CHUNK_BGN_FUNCTION`) to return information back to libcurl on how to handle a specific entry in a directory when libcurl iterates over a list of all available entries. When this callback returns `CURL_CHUNK_BGN_FUNC_SKIP`, to tell libcurl to not deal with that file, the internal function in libcurl then calls itself recursively to handle the next directory entry. If there's a sufficient amount of file entries and if the callback returns "skip" enough number of times, libcurl runs out of stack space. The exact amount will of course vary with platforms, compilers and other environmental factors.

Libcurl offers a wildcard matching functionality, which allows a callback (set with CURLOPT_CHUNK_BGN_FUNCTION) to return information back to libcurl on how to handle a specific entry in a directory when libcurl iterates over a list of all available entries. When this callback returns CURL_CHUNK_BGN_FUNC_SKIP, to tell libcurl to not deal with that file, the internal function in libcurl then calls itself recursively to handle the next directory entry. If there's a sufficient amount of file entries and if the callback returns "skip" enough number of times, libcurl runs out of stack space. The exact amount will of course vary with platforms, compilers and other environmental factors.

Mitigation

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 1902687: curl: Malicious FTP server can trigger stack overflow when CURLOPT_CHUNK_BGN_FUNCTION is used
  • CWE-674->CWE-121: Uncontrolled Recursion leads to Stack-based Buffer Overflow
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2020-8285

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
Red HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

6.5

7.5

Attack Vector

Network

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Low

Privileges Required

None

None

User Interaction

Required

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

None

None

Integrity Impact

None

None

Availability Impact

High

High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

UI:R because the user and/or user application needs to attempt to connect to a malicious server, that will at most just temporarily DoS the client application.

UI:R because the user and/or user application needs to attempt to connect to a malicious server, that will at most just temporarily DoS the client application.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Varnavas Papaioannou for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

What is a mitigation?

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

My product is listed as "Out of Support Scope". What does this mean?

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