CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-0842

Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution')

Published: Apr 05, 2023 | Modified: Mar 14, 2024
CVSS 3.x
5.3
MEDIUM
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
CVSS 2.x
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

xml2js version 0.4.23 allows an external attacker to edit or add new properties to an object. This is possible because the application does not properly validate incoming JSON keys, thus allowing the proto property to be edited.

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

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Xml2js Xml2js_project 0.4.23 0.4.23

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

References