CVE-2022-23486: Libp2p Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-jvgw-gccv-q5p8
CVSS 7.5
CWE-400 CWE-770
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-23486 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Libp2p libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves libp2p dos vulnerability from lack of resource management. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.45.1.

CVE-2022-23486 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-23486
GHSA Identifier GHSA-jvgw-gccv-q5p8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Libp2p
Package Ecosystem crates.io
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-2022-23486

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Libp2p dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

libp2p fixed: 0.45.1
Upgrade libp2p to 0.45.1
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 libp2p

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2022-23486, inspect your project dependencies for Libp2p:

inspect dependencies for libp2p

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Libp2p in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.45.1), 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-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Libp2p, 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

### Impact An attacker node can cause a victim node to allocate a large number of small memory chunks, which can ultimately lead to the victim’s process running out of memory and thus getting killed by its operating system. When executed continuously, this can lead to a denial of service attack, especially relevant on a larger scale when run against more than one node of a libp2p based network. ### Details In the original version of the attack, the malicious node would continuously open new streams on a single connection using a stream multiplexer that doesn’t provide sufficient back pressure (mplex or yamux). While allocations per stream might be considered small, they multiply with the number of streams and connections. It is easy to defend against this one attack, e.g. by setting a strict per connection stream limit and connection limit. But there are other variations of this attack, e.g. causing memory allocations by sending partial payloads on various protocol levels, forcing the victim to buffer the partial payload for a period of time or by tricking the victim into pre-allocating buffers for messages which are never sent by the attacker. ### Patches Users are advised to upgrade to `libp2p` `v0.45.1` or above. ### References Please see our DoS Mitigation page for more information on how to incorporate mitigation strategies, monitor your application, and respond to attacks: https://docs.libp2p.io/reference/dos-mitigation/. Please see the related disclosure for go-libp2p: https://github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-j7qp-mfxf-8xjw and js-libp2p: https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-f44q-634c-jvwv ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at security@libp2p.io.

CVE-2022-23486 Affected Libp2p Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.45.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
libp2p
crates.io
< 0.45.1
0.45.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-23486?
CVE-2022-23486 is a security vulnerability in Libp2p involving libp2p DoS vulnerability from lack of resource management under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Libp2p versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.45.1 across affected packages: libp2p.
What version fixes CVE-2022-23486?
Upgrading to 0.45.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is libp2p affected?
Yes, libp2p is affected in releases prior to 0.45.1. Upgrade your dependency to 0.45.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-23486?
CVE-2022-23486 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-2022-23486?
CVE-2022-23486 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2022-23486?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for libp2p'. 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-jvgw-gccv-q5p8",
  "modified" : "2023-07-14T21:53:44Z",
  "published" : "2022-12-07T20:28:46Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-23486" ],
  "summary" : "libp2p DoS vulnerability from lack of resource management",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nAn attacker node can cause a victim node to allocate a large number of small memory chunks, which can ultimately lead to the victim’s process running out of memory and thus getting killed by its operating system. When executed continuously, this can lead to a denial of service attack, especially relevant on a larger scale when run against more than one node of a libp2p based network.\n\n### Details\n\nIn the original version of the attack, the malicious node would continuously open new streams on a single connection using a stream multiplexer that doesn’t provide sufficient back pressure (mplex or yamux). While allocations per stream might be considered small, they multiply with the number of streams and connections. It is easy to defend against this one attack, e.g. by setting a strict per connection stream limit and connection limit. But there are other variations of this attack, e.g. causing memory allocations by sending partial payloads on various protocol levels, forcing the victim to buffer the partial payload for a period of time or by tricking the victim into pre-allocating buffers for messages which are never sent by the attacker.\n\n### Patches\n\nUsers are advised to upgrade to `libp2p` `v0.45.1` or above.\n\n### References\nPlease see our DoS Mitigation page for more information on how to incorporate mitigation strategies, monitor your application, and respond to attacks: https://docs.libp2p.io/reference/dos-mitigation/.\n\nPlease see the related disclosure for go-libp2p: https://github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-j7qp-mfxf-8xjw and js-libp2p: https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-f44q-634c-jvwv\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at security@libp2p.io.\n",
  "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" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "libp2p"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.45.1"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.45.0"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-j7qp-mfxf-8xjw"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-f44q-634c-jvwv"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p/security/advisories/GHSA-jvgw-gccv-q5p8"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23486"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2022-0084.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400", "CWE-770" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-12-07T20:28:46Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-12-07T21:15:00Z"
  }
}