CVE-2020-7671: Goliath HTTP Request Smuggling Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3892-2r52-p65m
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-444
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-7671 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) http request smuggling vulnerability (CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')) affecting Goliath libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves http request smuggling in goliath. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2020-7671 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-7671
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3892-2r52-p65m
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')
Affected Product Goliath
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2020-7671

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Goliath dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

goliath fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade goliath to Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for goliath

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2020-7671, inspect your project dependencies for Goliath:

inspect dependencies for goliath

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Goliath in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling'), where the product acts as an intermediary http agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed http requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination. In Goliath, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

goliath through 1.0.6 allows request smuggling attacks where goliath is used as a backend and a frontend proxy also being vulnerable. It is possible to conduct HTTP request smuggling attacks by sending the Content-Length header twice. Furthermore, invalid Transfer Encoding headers were found to be parsed as valid which could be leveraged for TE:CL smuggling attacks.

CVE-2020-7671 Affected Goliath Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
goliath
gem/goliath
RubyGems
≤ 1.0.6

References

NVD — CVE-2020-7671 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7671
Goliath Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/postrank-labs/goliath/issues/351
Goliath Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/postrank-labs/goliath
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-ruby-goli... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-RUBY-GOLIATH-569136

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-7671?
CVE-2020-7671 is a security vulnerability in Goliath involving HTTP Request Smuggling in goliath under CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling').
Which Goliath versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: goliath.
What version fixes CVE-2020-7671?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is goliath affected?
Yes, goliath is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-7671?
CVE-2020-7671 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-7671?
CVE-2020-7671 is classified under CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling') (The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2020-7671?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for goliath'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-3892-2r52-p65m",
  "modified" : "2023-01-25T22:49:54Z",
  "published" : "2021-05-24T18:20:07Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-7671" ],
  "summary" : "HTTP Request Smuggling in goliath",
  "details" : "goliath through 1.0.6 allows request smuggling attacks where goliath is used as a backend and a frontend proxy also being vulnerable. It is possible to conduct HTTP request smuggling attacks by sending the Content-Length header twice. Furthermore, invalid Transfer Encoding headers were found to be parsed as valid which could be leveraged for TE:CL smuggling attacks.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "goliath"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "1.0.6"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7671"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/postrank-labs/goliath/issues/351"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/postrank-labs/goliath"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-RUBY-GOLIATH-569136"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-444" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-05-13T17:20:47Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-06-10T16:15:00Z"
  }
}