mtr is vulnerable to Out-of-bound read vulnerability in ipinfo_lookup() function. An attacker who can influence the TXT response used for AS lookups can trigger this bug by returning a DNS response that is larger than 512 bytes and uses a crafted compression pointer in the answer NAME field. ipinfo_lookup() function uses the length of the response as the end-of-message boundary for dn_expand() function. The result is a reliable crash.
This issue exists in the mtr through version 0.96 and it was fixed in commit 48e1794414d338ce47abc0f27c25ade8788af9c3.
Weakness
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Potential Mitigations
- Assume all input is malicious. Use an “accept known good” input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
- When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, “boat” may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as “red” or “blue.”
- Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code’s environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
- To reduce the likelihood of introducing an out-of-bounds read, ensure that you validate and ensure correct calculations for any length argument, buffer size calculation, or offset. Be especially careful of relying on a sentinel (i.e. special character such as NUL) in untrusted inputs.