#VU48894 Uncontrolled Recursion in cURL


Published: 2020-12-09 | Updated: 2023-10-28

Vulnerability identifier: #VU48894

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 3.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-8285

CWE-ID: CWE-674

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
cURL
Client/Desktop applications / Other client software

Vendor: curl.haxx.se

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due tu uncontrolled recursion when processing FTP responses within the wildcard matching functionality, which allows a callback (set with <a href="https://curl.se/libcurl/c/CURLOPT_CHUNK_BGN_FUNCTION.html">CURLOPT_CHUNK_BGN_FUNCTION</a>) 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. A remote attacker who controls the malicious FTP server can trick the victim to connect to it and crash the application, which is using the affected libcurl version.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

cURL: 7.21.0 - 7.73.0


External links
http://curl.haxx.se/docs/CVE-2020-8285.html


Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.


Latest bulletins with this vulnerability