An issue was discovered in 6.0 before 6.0.3, 5.2 before 5.2.12, and 4.2 before 4.2.29.
URLField.to_python() in Django calls urllib.parse.urlsplit(), which performs NFKC normalization on Windows that is disproportionately slow for certain Unicode characters, allowing a remote attacker to cause denial of service via large URL inputs containing these characters.
Earlier, unsupported Django series (such as 5.0.x, 4.1.x, and 3.2.x) were not evaluated and may also be affected.
Django would like to thank Seokchan Yoon for reporting this issue.
Weakness
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Django | Djangoproject | 4.2.0 (including) | 4.2.29 (excluding) |
| Django | Djangoproject | 5.2 (including) | 5.2.12 (excluding) |
| Django | Djangoproject | 6.0 (including) | 6.0.3 (excluding) |
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