CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-42521

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Published: Aug 25, 2022 | Modified: Nov 21, 2024
CVSS 3.x
7.5
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.x
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
MEDIUM

There is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in VTK before 9.2.5, and it lies in IO/Infovis/vtkXMLTreeReader.cxx. The vendor didnt check the return value of libxml2 API xmlDocGetRootElement, and try to dereference it. It is unsafe as the return value can be NULL and that NULL pointer dereference may crash the application.

Weakness

The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Vtk Vtk * 9.0.0 (including)
Vtk Ubuntu trusty *
Vtk Ubuntu trusty/esm *
Vtk Ubuntu xenial *
Vtk6 Ubuntu bionic *
Vtk6 Ubuntu focal *
Vtk6 Ubuntu trusty *
Vtk6 Ubuntu trusty/esm *
Vtk6 Ubuntu xenial *
Vtk7 Ubuntu bionic *
Vtk7 Ubuntu focal *
Vtk7 Ubuntu kinetic *
Vtk9 Ubuntu kinetic *
Vtk9 Ubuntu lunar *
Vtk9 Ubuntu mantic *
Vtk9 Ubuntu oracular *

Potential Mitigations

  • Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:

  • The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.

  • The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.

References