#VU67973 Resource exhaustion in Exiv2 - CVE-2021-32617

Vulnerability identifier: #VU67973

Vulnerability 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-2021-32617

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Exiv2
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: GNU

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to application uses an inefficient algorithm (quadratic complexity) when writing metadata into a crafted image file. A remote attacker can trick trigger resource exhaustion and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Exiv2: 0.16 - 0.27.3

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External links
https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/pull/1657
https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/security/advisories/GHSA-w8mv-g8qq-36mj
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5I3RRZUGSBIUYZ5TIHLN55PKMAWCSJ5G/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/M2BPQNJKTRIDINTVJ22QMMTIZEPHVKXK/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RQAKFIQHW2AS3AGSJM42ABOA6CWIJBGM/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TZ5SGWHK64TB7ADRSVBGHEPDFN5CSOO3/

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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.