A flaw was found in FreeType, specifically within its CID font loader. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by tricking a user into opening content that embeds or references a specially crafted CID-keyed font. This crafted font can cause repeated allocations and decryptions of subroutine data across multiple font dictionaries, leading to excessive memory and CPU consumption. This can result in a denial of service (DoS) for the application or service processing the font, potentially causing it to hang or terminate.
Weakness
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | RedHat | freetype-main-2.14.3-2.1.hum1 | * |
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