#VU96970 Resource exhaustion in REXML - CVE-2024-43398

Vulnerability identifier: #VU96970

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-2024-43398

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
REXML
Web applications / Modules and components for CMS

Vendor: rubygems.org

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to application does not properly control consumption of internal resources when parsing XML with multiple deep elements that have same local name attributes. A remote attacker can trigger resource exhaustion and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

REXML: 3.1.8 - 3.3.5

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External links
https://github.com/ruby/rexml/security/advisories/GHSA-vmwr-mc7x-5vc3
https://github.com/ruby/rexml/releases/tag/v3.3.6

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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.