Denial of service in WebSocket client and server for Node.js

1) NULL pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU94329

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 6.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2024-37890

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error when handling requests with the number of headers that exceeds the "server.maxHeadersCount" value. A remote attacker can send a specially crafted request to the application and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

ws: 2.1.0 - 8.17.0

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:websockets:ws:2.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:websockets:ws:2.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:websockets:ws:2.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://github.com/websockets/ws/security/advisories/GHSA-3h5v-q93c-6h6q
https://github.com/websockets/ws/issues/2230
https://github.com/websockets/ws/pull/2231
https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/22c28763234aa75a7e1b76f5c01c181260d7917f
https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/4abd8f6de4b0b65ef80b3ff081989479ed93377e
https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/e55e5106f10fcbaac37cfa89759e4cc0d073a52c
https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/eeb76d313e2a00dd5247ca3597bba7877d064a63
https://nodejs.org/api/http.html#servermaxheaderscount

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.