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high resource usage when parsing multipart form data with many fields

High
davidism published GHSA-xg9f-g7g7-2323 Feb 14, 2023

Package

pip Werkzeug (pip)

Affected versions

<=2.2.2

Patched versions

2.2.3

Description

Werkzeug's multipart form data parser will parse an unlimited number of parts, including file parts. Parts can be a small amount of bytes, but each requires CPU time to parse and may use more memory as Python data. If a request can be made to an endpoint that accesses request.data, request.form, request.files, or request.get_data(parse_form_data=False), it can cause unexpectedly high resource usage.

This allows an attacker to cause a denial of service by sending crafted multipart data to an endpoint that will parse it. The amount of CPU time required can block worker processes from handling legitimate requests. The amount of RAM required can trigger an out of memory kill of the process. Unlimited file parts can use up memory and file handles. If many concurrent requests are sent continuously, this can exhaust or kill all available workers.

Severity

High
7.5
/ 10

CVSS base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVE ID

CVE-2023-25577

Weaknesses

Credits