CVE-2021-32628

Redis is an open source, in-memory database that persists on disk. An integer overflow bug in the ziplist data structure used by all versions of Redis can be exploited to corrupt the heap and potentially result with remote code execution. The vulnerability involves modifying the default ziplist configuration parameters (hash-max-ziplist-entries, hash-max-ziplist-value, zset-max-ziplist-entries or zset-max-ziplist-value) to a very large value, and then constructing specially crafted commands to create very large ziplists. The problem is fixed in Redis versions 6.2.6, 6.0.16, 5.0.14. An additional workaround to mitigate the problem without patching the redis-server executable is to prevent users from modifying the above configuration parameters. This can be done using ACL to restrict unprivileged users from using the CONFIG SET command.

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

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.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/92.html

References

• https://github.com/redis/redis/commit/f6a40570fa63d5afdd596c78083d754081d80ae3
• https://github.com/redis/redis/security/advisories/GHSA-vw22-qm3h-49pr
• https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HTYQ5ZF37HNGTZWVNJD3VXP7I6MEEF42/
• https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VL5KXFN3ATM7IIM7Q4O4PWTSRGZ5744Z/
• https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WR5WKJWXD4D6S3DJCZ56V74ESLTDQRAB/
• https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202209-17
• https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211104-0003/
• https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5001
• https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html