CVE-2023-24536 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting the Golang Go programming language. This vulnerability allows multipart form parsing to consume excessive CPU and memory resources when processing inputs containing a large number of parts. The severity of this vulnerability is underscored by its CVSS score of 7.5, which categorizes it as a high risk due to potential denial of service (DoS) conditions. Organizations utilizing Golang should be aware of the risks associated with this vulnerability and prioritize remediation efforts.
The exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to significant resource consumption, which can render applications unresponsive. Attackers may leverage this weakness to affect applications that utilize the mime/multipart.Reader.ReadForm method, as well as various request methods in the net/http package. Given the potential impact on availability, organizations must act promptly to mitigate this risk.
Organizations should prioritize patching immediately. The fix for this vulnerability includes better memory consumption estimation and reduced short-lived allocations, alongside limits on the number of parts and header fields in parsed forms. Ignoring this vulnerability could lead to service disruptions and impact critical business operations.
As of now, there are no known public exploits for CVE-2023-24536, but the potential for exploitation exists. Organizations must remain vigilant and monitor their systems for any signs of abnormal behavior related to multipart form handling.
Vulnerability Details
The CVE-2023-24536 vulnerability is described as follows: Multipart form parsing can consume large amounts of CPU and memory when processing form inputs containing very large numbers of parts. This stems from several causes: 1. mime/multipart.Reader.ReadForm limits the total memory a parsed multipart form can consume. ReadForm can undercount the amount of memory consumed, leading it to accept larger inputs than intended. 2. Limiting total memory does not account for increased pressure on the garbage collector from large numbers of small allocations in forms with many parts. 3. ReadForm can allocate a large number of short-lived buffers, further increasing pressure on the garbage collector. The combination of these factors can permit an attacker to cause a program that parses multipart forms to consume large amounts of CPU and memory, potentially resulting in a denial of service.
This vulnerability affects programs that use mime/multipart.Reader.ReadForm, as well as form parsing in the net/http package with the Request methods FormFile, FormValue, ParseMultipartForm, and PostFormValue. With the fix, ReadForm now does a better job of estimating the memory consumption of parsed forms and performs many fewer short-lived allocations.
The fixed mime/multipart.Reader imposes the following limits on the size of parsed forms: 1. Forms parsed with ReadForm may contain no more than 1000 parts. This limit may be adjusted with the environment variable GODEBUG=multipartmaxparts=. 2. Form parts parsed with NextPart and NextRawPart may contain no more than 10,000 header fields. In addition, forms parsed with ReadForm may contain no more than 10,000 header fields across all parts. This limit may be adjusted with the environment variable GODEBUG=multipartmaxheaders=.
Technical Analysis
The root cause of CVE-2023-24536 lies in the implementation of multipart form parsing within the Golang standard library. Specifically, the mime/multipart.Reader.ReadForm method does not accurately account for memory consumption when processing forms with a large number of parts, which leads to excessive resource usage. The attack vector is network-based, allowing attackers to exploit this vulnerability remotely without requiring privileged access or user interaction.
The attack complexity is assessed as low, meaning that successfully exploiting this vulnerability does not require advanced skills or resources. Consequently, the potential impact on availability is high, as systems may become unresponsive due to resource exhaustion. This vulnerability has no impact on confidentiality or integrity, as it does not result in unauthorized data access or modification.
Risk & Impact Analysis
The real-world risk associated with CVE-2023-24536 is significant, especially for organizations that rely on Golang for web applications or services that involve multipart form processing. The potential for denial of service is particularly concerning, as attackers may exploit this vulnerability to disrupt service availability, impacting user experience and business operations.
The blast radius for this vulnerability can be extensive, as it affects any application that utilizes the vulnerable parsing methods in the net/http package. Organizations must assess the urgency of addressing this vulnerability based on their deployment scenarios and user base. Given the CVSS score of 7.5, organizations should address this vulnerability in their priority patch cycle.
Signal | Status |
|---|---|
Known Exploit | No |
Public PoC | No |
Actively Exploited | No |
Ransomware Use | No |
Affected Versions
The vulnerable versions of Golang go are: All versions prior to vendor patch 1.19.8 and versions from 1.20.0 to 1.20.3. Organizations should ensure they update to the latest version to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability.
Mitigation & Remediation
Organizations must prioritize patching to address CVE-2023-24536. The recommended version to upgrade to is 1.20.3 or later. If patching is not immediately possible, consider implementing configuration hardening measures to limit multipart form size and monitor resource usage closely. Additionally, organizations may benefit from engaging in penetration testing to identify any weaknesses in their systems.
Detection Guidance
To detect potential exploitation of CVE-2023-24536, organizations should monitor for abnormal CPU and memory usage patterns, particularly in applications processing multipart forms. Log indicators of resource consumption spikes, and review application logs for errors related to memory allocation failures. Ensuring that applications handle multipart forms correctly and efficiently is crucial.
AppSecure Threat Intelligence Insight
CVE-2023-24536 represents a significant threat to organizations using Golang for web applications that require multipart form processing. This vulnerability highlights the importance of resource management in application design and the potential for denial of service attacks. Security teams should take this incident as a lesson in ensuring that their applications can handle unexpected input sizes without leading to resource exhaustion.
As organizations adopt newer technologies, it is imperative to continuously assess and improve security practices. Regular vulnerability assessments and engaging in vulnerability management programs can aid in early detection of such issues.
Organizations should also consider structural changes in their applications to accommodate better handling of multipart data. By adopting best practices in penetration testing methodology, organizations can enhance their security posture.
Lastly, maintaining awareness of emerging vulnerabilities and ongoing remediation efforts is crucial in today's fast-paced technology landscape. Engaging with security communities and participating in continuous security testing can provide organizations with the insights necessary to proactively defend against vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-24536.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
.webp)