CVE-2023-46589
Description
An improper Input validation flaw was found in Apache Tomcat due to incorrect parsing of HTTP trailer headers. A trailer header that exceeded the header size limit could cause Tomcat to treat a single request as multiple requests, leading to the possibility of request smuggling when behind a reverse proxy.
Statement
This vulnerability in Apache Tomcat is of significant importance due to its potential to exploit HTTP request smuggling, presenting a security risk for web applications utilizing Tomcat. The flaw arises from Tomcat's improper parsing of HTTP trailer headers, where a specifically crafted header exceeding the size limit could cause Tomcat to treat a single request as multiple ones. This opens the door for attackers to manipulate requests and potentially conduct various malicious activities, such as unauthorized access, data exposure, or other exploits, particularly when Tomcat is deployed behind a reverse proxy.
The pki-servlet-engine package has been obsoleted by the Tomcat package. Therefore, this issue will be fixed in the Tomcat package rather than the pki-serlvet-engine package. Please follow the RHEL Tomcat trackers instead for the updates.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert: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 Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | None | None |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | None | None |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | High |
| Availability Impact | None | None | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Non-Repudiation,Access Control
Technical Impact: Unexpected State; Hide Activities; Bypass Protection Mechanism
An attacker could create HTTP messages to exploit a number of weaknesses including 1) the message can trick the web server to associate a URL with another URL's webpage and caching the contents of the webpage (web cache poisoning attack), 2) the message can be structured to bypass the firewall protection mechanisms and gain unauthorized access to a web application, and 3) the message can invoke a script or a page that returns client credentials (similar to a Cross Site Scripting attack).
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