Zero-day vulnerability in Apache Struts

Infinite loop
CVE-2014-0050

On April 24, 2014, the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) released an advisory warning that a patch issued in March, 2 for a zero-day vulnerability in Apache Struts up to version 2.3.16.1, did not fully patch the vulnerabilities (CVE-2014-0094 or CVE-2014-0050).

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2014020601 - Denial of service in Apache Struts

Vulnerable component: Apache Struts

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-0050

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-400 - Resource exhaustion

Description:

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause DoS conditions on the target system.

The weakness exists due to boundary error when handling Content-Type HTTP header for multipart requests. By sending a specially crafted Content-Type header, containing 4092 characters in "boundary" field, a remote attacker can cause the application to enter into an infinite loop.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in denial of service on the vulnerable system.

Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.

Public Exploits:

- Apache Commons FileUpload and Apache Tomcat - Denial of Service [Exploit-DB]

External links:

http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/www-announce/201402.mbox/%3C52F373FC.9030907@apache.org%3E
https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/emerging-threat-apache-struts-zero-day-cve-2014-0050-0094-dos...
https://www.trustwave.com/Resources/SpiderLabs-Blog/CVE-2014-0050--Exploit-with-Boundaries,-Loops-wi...
http://jvndb.jvn.jp/en/contents/2014/JVNDB-2014-000017.html
https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/emerging-threat-apache-struts-zero-day-cve-2014-0050-0094-dos-and-remote-code-execution-vulner
http://www.ehackingnews.com/2014/02/cve-2014-0050-apache-tomcat-vulnerable.html
http://telussecuritylabs.com/threats/show/TSL20140206-02
http://www.javaworld.com/article/2097428/enterprise-java/denial-of-service-vulnerability-puts-apache...

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.