cmark-gfm is GitHubs extended version of the C reference implementation of CommonMark. Prior to versions 0.29.0.gfm.3 and 0.28.3.gfm.21, an integer overflow in cmark-gfms table row parsing table.c:row_from_string may lead to heap memory corruption when parsing tables whos marker rows contain more than UINT16_MAX columns. The impact of this heap corruption ranges from Information Leak to Arbitrary Code Execution depending on how and where cmark-gfm is used. If cmark-gfm is used for rendering remote user controlled markdown, this vulnerability may lead to Remote Code Execution (RCE) in applications employing affected versions of the cmark-gfm library. This vulnerability has been patched in the following cmark-gfm versions 0.29.0.gfm.3 and 0.28.3.gfm.21. A workaround is available. The vulnerability exists in the table markdown extensions of cmark-gfm. Disabling the table extension will prevent this vulnerability from being triggered.
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 |
| Cmark-gfm |
Github |
* |
0.28.3.gfm.21 (excluding) |
| Cmark-gfm |
Github |
0.28.3.gfm.21 (excluding) |
0.29.0.gfm.3 (excluding) |
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