CVE-2024-7254

Any project that parses untrusted Protocol Buffers data containing an arbitrary number of nested groups / series of SGROUP tags can corrupted by exceeding the stack limit i.e. StackOverflow. Parsing nested groups as unknown fields with DiscardUnknownFieldsParser or Java Protobuf Lite parser, or against Protobuf map fields, creates unbounded recursions that can be abused by an attacker.

Weakness

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

Affected Software

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.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/147.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/227.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/492.html

References

• https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/commit/cc8b3483a5584b3301e3d43d17eb59704857ffaa
• https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20241213-0010/
• https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20250418-0006/