CVE-2024-21907: Newtonsoft.Json Improper Handling Of Exceptional Conditions Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5crp-9r3c-p9vr
CVSS 7.5
CWE-755
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-21907 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) improper handling of exceptional conditions vulnerability (CWE-755: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions) affecting Newtonsoft.Json libraries in the NuGet ecosystem. The issue involves improper handling of exceptional conditions in newtonsoft.json. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 13.0.1.

CVE-2024-21907 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-21907
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5crp-9r3c-p9vr
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-755: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions
Affected Product Newtonsoft.Json
Package Ecosystem NuGet
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:N/A:H).

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 None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2024-21907

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

Newtonsoft.Json fixed: 13.0.1
Upgrade Newtonsoft.Json to 13.0.1
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 Newtonsoft.Json

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2024-21907, inspect your project dependencies for Newtonsoft.Json:

inspect dependencies for Newtonsoft.Json

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Newtonsoft.Json in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 13.0.1), 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-755: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions, where the product does not handle or incorrectly handles an exceptional condition. In Newtonsoft.Json, 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

Newtonsoft.Json prior to version 13.0.1 is vulnerable to Insecure Defaults due to improper handling of expressions with high nesting level that lead to StackOverFlow exception or high CPU and RAM usage. Exploiting this vulnerability results in Denial Of Service (DoS). The serialization and deserialization path have different properties regarding the issue. Deserializing methods (like `JsonConvert.DeserializeObject`) will process the input that results in burning the CPU, allocating memory, and consuming a thread of execution. Quite high nesting level (>10kk, or 9.5MB of `{a:{a:{...` input) is needed to achieve the latency over 10 seconds, depending on the hardware. Serializing methods (like `JsonConvert.Serialize` or `JObject.ToString`) will throw StackOverFlow exception with the nesting level of around 20k. To mitigate the issue one either need to update Newtonsoft.Json to 13.0.1 or set `MaxDepth` parameter in the `JsonSerializerSettings`. This can be done globally with the following statement. After that the parsing of the nested input will fail fast with `Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException`: ``` JsonConvert.DefaultSettings = () => new JsonSerializerSettings { MaxDepth = 128 }; ``` Repro code: ``` //Create a string representation of an highly nested object (JSON serialized) int nRep = 25000; string json = string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat("{a:", nRep)) + "1" + string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat("}", nRep)); //Parse this object (leads to high CPU/RAM consumption) var parsedJson = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json); // Methods below all throw stack overflow with nRep around 20k and higher // string a = parsedJson.ToString(); // string b = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parsedJson); ``` ### Additional affected product and version information **The original statement about the problem only affecting IIS applications is misleading.** Any application is affected, however the IIS has a behavior that stops restarting the instance after some time resulting in a harder-to-fix DoS.**

CVE-2024-21907 Affected Newtonsoft.Json Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
13.0.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
Newtonsoft.Json
NuGet
< 13.0.1
13.0.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-21907?
CVE-2024-21907 is a security vulnerability in Newtonsoft.Json involving Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions in Newtonsoft.Json under CWE-755: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions.
Which Newtonsoft.Json versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 13.0.1 across affected packages: Newtonsoft.Json.
What version fixes CVE-2024-21907?
Upgrading to 13.0.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is Newtonsoft.Json affected?
Yes, Newtonsoft.Json is affected in releases prior to 13.0.1. Upgrade your dependency to 13.0.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-21907?
CVE-2024-21907 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:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-21907?
CVE-2024-21907 is classified under CWE-755: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions (The product does not handle or incorrectly handles an exceptional condition.).
How can I check NuGet dependencies for CVE-2024-21907?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for Newtonsoft.Json'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5crp-9r3c-p9vr",
  "modified" : "2024-01-03T20:06:36Z",
  "published" : "2022-06-22T15:08:47Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-21907" ],
  "summary" : "Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions in Newtonsoft.Json",
  "details" : "Newtonsoft.Json prior to version 13.0.1 is vulnerable to Insecure Defaults due to improper handling of expressions with high nesting level that lead to StackOverFlow exception or high CPU and RAM usage. Exploiting this vulnerability results in Denial Of Service (DoS). \n\nThe serialization and deserialization path have different properties regarding the issue.\n\nDeserializing methods (like `JsonConvert.DeserializeObject`) will process the input that results in burning the CPU, allocating memory, and consuming a thread of execution. Quite high nesting level (>10kk, or 9.5MB of `{a:{a:{...` input) is needed to achieve the latency over 10 seconds, depending on the hardware.\n\nSerializing methods (like `JsonConvert.Serialize` or `JObject.ToString`) will throw StackOverFlow exception with the nesting level of around 20k.\n\nTo mitigate the issue one either need to update Newtonsoft.Json to 13.0.1 or set `MaxDepth` parameter in the `JsonSerializerSettings`. This can be done globally with the following statement. After that the parsing of the nested input will fail fast with `Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException`:\n\n``` \nJsonConvert.DefaultSettings = () => new JsonSerializerSettings { MaxDepth = 128 };\n```\n\nRepro code:\n```\n//Create a string representation of an highly nested object (JSON serialized)\nint nRep = 25000;\nstring json = string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat(\"{a:\", nRep)) + \"1\" +\n string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat(\"}\", nRep));\n\n//Parse this object (leads to high CPU/RAM consumption)\nvar parsedJson = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);\n\n// Methods below all throw stack overflow with nRep around 20k and higher\n// string a = parsedJson.ToString();\n// string b = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parsedJson);\n```\n\n### Additional affected product and version information\n**The original statement about the problem only affecting IIS applications is misleading.** Any application is affected, however the IIS has a behavior that stops restarting the instance after some time resulting in a harder-to-fix DoS.**",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Newtonsoft.Json"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
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      }, {
        "fixed" : "13.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
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    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json/pull/2462"
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    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json/commit/7e77bbe1beccceac4fc7b174b53abfefac278b66"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://alephsecurity.com/2018/10/22/StackOverflowException"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://alephsecurity.com/vulns/aleph-2018004"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-DOTNET-NEWTONSOFTJSON-2774678"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-755" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-06-22T15:08:47Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}