#VU71379 Incorrect Regular Expression in setuptools - CVE-2022-40897

Vulnerability identifier: #VU71379

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-2022-40897

CWE-ID: CWE-185

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
setuptools
Other software / Other software solutions

Vendor: Python Packaging Authority

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient input validation when processing HTML content. A remote attacker can pass specially crafted data to the application and perform regular expression denial of service (ReDos) attack.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

setuptools: 0.6 - 65.5.0

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External links
https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/blob/fe8a98e696241487ba6ac9f91faa38ade939ec5d/setuptools/package_index.py#L200
https://pyup.io/posts/pyup-discovers-redos-vulnerabilities-in-top-python-packages/
https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/compare/v65.5.0...v65.5.1
https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/commit/43a9c9bfa6aa626ec2a22540bea28d2ca77964be
https://pyup.io/vulnerabilities/CVE-2022-40897/52495/

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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.