The CVE-2023-45142 vulnerability affects OpenTelemetry Go Contrib, a collection of third-party packages that enhance the OpenTelemetry-Go library. This vulnerability allows for potential memory exhaustion on the server due to unbounded cardinality of HTTP method and User-Agent labels added by a handler wrapper. An attacker can send numerous malicious requests with random and excessively long values for these headers, leading to a significant risk of resource depletion.
The CVSS score for this vulnerability is 7.5, classifying it as high severity. The exploitation of this vulnerability can occur through network vectors with low complexity and no required privileges or user interaction. This makes the risk to organizations particularly concerning, as it could be exploited easily without requiring sophisticated techniques.
Organizations using affected versions of OpenTelemetry Go Contrib should prioritize patching immediately to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability. Version 0.44.0 has been released to address this issue by restricting the values collected for the HTTP method attribute to a predefined set of known values and limiting high cardinality attributes.
As a temporary workaround, users can implement `otelhttp.WithFilter()` to selectively filter requests, although this requires careful manual configuration to avoid inadvertently omitting critical logs. Default behavior should be adjusted to mark non-standard HTTP methods and User-Agents with an 'unknown' label to prevent unnecessary cardinality growth.
Organizations should be aware that the vulnerability was published on October 12, 2023, and the risk of exploitation is significant, especially for those who may not have updated their libraries to the latest version.
Monitoring for unusual spikes in memory usage or requests with unrecognized methods or User-Agents can help detect potential exploitation attempts.
In conclusion, the OpenTelemetry Go Contrib vulnerability CVE-2023-45142 poses a high risk to organizations that utilize this library in their applications. Timely updates and monitoring are critical in mitigating the associated risks.
Vulnerability Details
OpenTelemetry-Go Contrib is a collection of third-party packages for OpenTelemetry-Go. A handler wrapper out of the box adds labels `http.user_agent` and `http.method` that have unbound cardinality. It leads to the server's potential memory exhaustion when many malicious requests are sent to it. HTTP header User-Agent or HTTP method for requests can be easily set by an attacker to be random and long. The library internally uses `httpconv.ServerRequest` that records every value for HTTP `method` and `User-Agent. In order to be affected, a program has to use the `otelhttp.NewHandler` wrapper and not filter any unknown HTTP methods or User agents on the level of CDN, LB, previous middleware, etc.
Version 0.44.0 fixed this issue when the values collected for attribute `http.request.method` were changed to be restricted to a set of well-known values and other high cardinality attributes were removed.
Technical Analysis
The root cause of the vulnerability lies in the library's handling of HTTP headers, particularly the `User-Agent` and `method` fields, which can lead to excessive memory consumption when not properly managed. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability remotely, sending crafted HTTP requests that exploit the unbounded nature of these attributes.
The attack complexity is low, requiring no special privileges or user interaction. As the confidentiality and integrity impacts are none, the primary concern remains the availability impact, which can be high due to potential memory exhaustion.
Risk & Impact Analysis
The real-world risk of this vulnerability is significant, especially for applications that process a high volume of HTTP requests. Organizations that have not implemented proper filtering or restrictions on HTTP methods and User-Agents may face server outages or performance degradation due to memory exhaustion.
The blast radius of this vulnerability can extend to any service relying on OpenTelemetry Go Contrib, making it imperative for organizations to assess their usage of the library and implement mitigations promptly. With a CVSS score of 7.5, the urgency of addressing this vulnerability is high.
Signal | Status |
|---|---|
Known Exploit | No |
Public PoC | No |
Actively Exploited | No |
Ransomware Use | No |
Affected Versions
The vulnerable versions of OpenTelemetry Go Contrib are all versions prior to 0.44.0. Organizations are advised to upgrade to this version or later to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability.
Mitigation & Remediation
To remediate this vulnerability, organizations should upgrade to OpenTelemetry Go Contrib version 0.44.0 or later. In addition, it is recommended to implement `otelhttp.WithFilter()` to manage HTTP methods and User-Agent headers effectively. This requires careful configuration to avoid logging inappropriate requests and can be set to mark non-standard HTTP methods and User-Agents with the label 'unknown'.
For further guidance on security practices, organizations can refer to our application security assessment resources.
Detection Guidance
Organizations should monitor logs for signs of unusual request patterns, especially requests with unknown HTTP methods or excessively long User-Agent strings. Any unexpected spikes in memory usage should be investigated for potential exploitation attempts.
AppSecure Threat Intelligence Insight
The long-term significance of CVE-2023-45142 lies in its demonstration of how unbounded resource consumption vulnerabilities can lead to severe denial-of-service conditions. This incident highlights the importance of implementing stringent controls on input parameters, especially in libraries that handle external requests.
Security teams should take this opportunity to review and enhance their application security practices. For further insights on effective security strategies, consider our vulnerability management program and penetration testing methodology articles for best practices.
In conclusion, CVE-2023-45142 serves as a reminder of the risks associated with unbounded resource consumption in web applications, and security teams must remain vigilant in their defenses.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
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