CVE-2022-21803

This affects the package nconf before 0.11.4. When using the memory engine, it is possible to store a nested JSON representation of the configuration. The .set() function, that is responsible for setting the configuration properties, is vulnerable to Prototype Pollution. By providing a crafted property, it is possible to modify the properties on the Object.prototype.

Weakness

The product receives input from an upstream component that specifies attributes that are to be initialized or updated in an object, but it does not properly control modifications of attributes of the object prototype.

Affected Software

Extended Description

By adding or modifying attributes of an object prototype, it is possible to create attributes that exist on every object, or replace critical attributes with malicious ones. This can be problematic if the product depends on existence or non-existence of certain attributes, or uses pre-defined attributes of object prototype (such as hasOwnProperty, toString or valueOf). This weakness is usually exploited by using a special attribute of objects called proto, constructor or prototype. Such attributes give access to the object prototype. This weakness is often found in code that assigns object attributes based on user input, or merges or clones objects recursively.

Potential Mitigations

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/1.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/180.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/77.html

References

• https://github.com/indexzero/nconf/pull/397
• https://github.com/indexzero/nconf/releases/tag/v0.11.4
• https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARSNPM-2632450
• https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-NCONF-2395478
• https://github.com/indexzero/nconf/pull/397
• https://github.com/indexzero/nconf/releases/tag/v0.11.4
• https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARSNPM-2632450
• https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-NCONF-2395478