A vulnerability in danswer-ai/danswer v0.3.94 allows an attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by uploading a file with a malformed multipart boundary. By appending a large number of characters to the end of the multipart boundary, the server continuously processes each character, rendering the application inaccessible. This issue can be exploited by sending a single crafted request, affecting all users on the server.
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
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.