CVE-2016-0738: Swift Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-fxwr-2vxm-cg7p
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CVSS 7.5
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-0738 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Swift libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves openstack object storage (swift) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.3.1, 2.5.1.

CVE-2016-0738 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-0738
GHSA Identifier GHSA-fxwr-2vxm-cg7p
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Swift
Package Ecosystem PyPI
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:3.0/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-2016-0738

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

swift fixed: 2.3.1 
pip install swift>=2.3.1
swift fixed: 2.5.1 
pip install swift>=2.5.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

pip show swift

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2016-0738, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show swift

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Swift in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.3.1), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show swift command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Swift, 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

OpenStack Object Storage (Swift) before 2.3.1 (Kilo), 2.4.x, and 2.5.x before 2.5.1 (Liberty) do not properly close server connections, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (proxy-server resource consumption) via a series of interrupted requests to a Large Object URL.

CVE-2016-0738 Affected Swift Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.3.12.5.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
swift
pypi/swift
PyPI
< 2.3.1
2.3.1
swift
pypi/swift
PyPI
≥ 2.4.0
< 2.5.1
2.5.1

References

NVD — CVE-2016-0738 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-0738
Swift Security Information SECURITY
https://web.archive.org/web/20200228001102/http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/81432
Swift Security Information SECURITY
https://security.openstack.org/ossa/OSSA-2016-004.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016-03... WEB
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-0329.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016-01... WEB
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-0155.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016-01... WEB
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-0128.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-February/176713.html
Swift Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/openstack/swift/blob/master/CHANGELOG
Swift Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/openstack/swift
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1298905
bugs.launchpad.net/cloud-archive/+bug/... WEB
https://bugs.launchpad.net/cloud-archive/+bug/1493303
Swift Security Information SECURITY
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-0738
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016:03... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0329
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016:03... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0328
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016:01... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0155
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016:01... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0128
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016:01... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0127
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2016:01... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0126

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-0738?
CVE-2016-0738 is a security vulnerability in Swift involving OpenStack Object Storage (Swift) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service under General Security Weakness.
Which Swift versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.3.1, 2.5.1 across affected packages: swift.
What version fixes CVE-2016-0738?
Upgrading to 2.3.1, 2.5.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is swift affected?
Yes, swift is affected in releases prior to 2.3.1, 2.5.1. Upgrade your dependency to 2.3.1, 2.5.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-0738?
CVE-2016-0738 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-0738?
CVE-2016-0738 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2016-0738?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show swift'. 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 
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  "id" : "GHSA-fxwr-2vxm-cg7p",
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  "published" : "2022-05-17T03:29:51Z",
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    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0329"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0328"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0155"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0128"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0127"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:0126"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-02-08T17:59:29Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2016-01-29T20:59:00Z"
  }
}