lighttpd before 1.4.54 has a signed integer overflow, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a malicious HTTP GET request, as demonstrated by mishandling of /%2F? in burl_normalize_2F_to_slash_fix in burl.c. NOTE: The developer states The feature which can be abused to cause the crash is a new feature in lighttpd 1.4.50, and is not enabled by default. It must be explicitly configured in the config file (e.g. lighttpd.conf). Certain input will trigger an abort() in lighttpd when that feature is enabled. lighttpd detects the underflow or realloc() will fail (in both 32-bit and 64-bit executables), also detected in lighttpd. Either triggers an explicit abort() by lighttpd. This is not exploitable beyond triggering the explicit abort() with subsequent application exit.
Weakness
The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound, when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This can introduce other weaknesses when the calculation is used for resource management or execution control.
Affected Software
| Name |
Vendor |
Start Version |
End Version |
| Lighttpd |
Lighttpd |
* |
1.4.53 (including) |
Potential Mitigations
- Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
- If possible, choose a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
- Use libraries or frameworks that make it easier to handle numbers without unexpected consequences.
- Examples include safe integer handling packages such as SafeInt (C++) or IntegerLib (C or C++). [REF-106]
- Perform input validation on any numeric input by ensuring that it is within the expected range. Enforce that the input meets both the minimum and maximum requirements for the expected range.
- Use unsigned integers where possible. This makes it easier to perform validation for integer overflows. When signed integers are required, ensure that the range check includes minimum values as well as maximum values.
- Understand the programming language’s underlying representation and how it interacts with numeric calculation (CWE-681). Pay close attention to byte size discrepancies, precision, signed/unsigned distinctions, truncation, conversion and casting between types, “not-a-number” calculations, and how the language handles numbers that are too large or too small for its underlying representation. [REF-7]
- Also be careful to account for 32-bit, 64-bit, and other potential differences that may affect the numeric representation.
References