CVE-2024-42353: Webob WebOb's Location Header Normalization During Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mg3v-6m49-jhp3
CVSS 6.1
CWE-601
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-42353 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.1) webob's location header normalization during vulnerability (CWE-601: URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')) affecting Webob libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves webob's location header normalization during redirect leads to open redirect. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.8.8.

CVE-2024-42353 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-42353
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mg3v-6m49-jhp3
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.1
CWE Classification CWE-601: URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')
Affected Product Webob
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.1

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:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).

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

How to Fix CVE-2024-42353

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

webob fixed: 1.8.8
pip install webob>=1.8.8
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 webob

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2024-42353, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show webob

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Webob in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.8.8), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-601: URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect'), where the web application accepts a user-controlled input that specifies a link to an external site, and uses that link in a redirect. In Webob, 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 When WebOb normalizes the HTTP Location header to include the request hostname, it does so by parsing the URL that the user is to be redirected to with Python's urlparse, and joining it to the base URL. `urlparse` however treats a `//` at the start of a string as a URI without a scheme, and then treats the next part as the hostname. `urljoin` will then use that hostname from the second part as the hostname replacing the original one from the request. ``` >>> parse.urlparse("//example.com/test/path") ParseResult(scheme='', netloc='example.com', path='/test/path', params='', query='', fragment='') ``` WebOb uses `urljoin` to take the request URI and joining the redirect location, so assuming the request URI is: `https://example.org//example.com/some/path`, and the URL to redirect to (for example by adding a slash automatically) is `//example.com/some/path/` that gets turned by `urljoin` into: ``` >>> parse.urljoin("https://example.org//attacker.com/some/path", "//attacker.com/some/path/") 'https://attacker.com/some/path/' ``` Which redirects from `example.org` where we want the user to stay to `attacker.com` ### Patches This issue is patched in WebOb 1.8.8 Older versions of WebOb continue to be vulnerable to this issue, and should be avoided. ### Workarounds Any use of the `Response` class that includes a `location` can be rewritten to make sure to always pass a full URI that includes the hostname to redirect the user to. ### Thanks - Sara Gao This issue was reported via the [Pylons Project Security List](mailto:pylons-project-security@googlegroups.com)

CVE-2024-42353 Affected Webob Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.8.8
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
webob
PyPI
< 1.8.8
1.8.8

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-42353?
CVE-2024-42353 is a security vulnerability in Webob involving WebOb's location header normalization during redirect leads to open redirect under CWE-601: URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect').
Which Webob versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.8.8 across affected packages: webob.
What version fixes CVE-2024-42353?
Upgrading to 1.8.8 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is webob affected?
Yes, webob is affected in releases prior to 1.8.8. Upgrade your dependency to 1.8.8 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-42353?
CVE-2024-42353 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-42353?
CVE-2024-42353 is classified under CWE-601: URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect') (The web application accepts a user-controlled input that specifies a link to an external site, and uses that link in a redirect.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2024-42353?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show webob'. 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-mg3v-6m49-jhp3",
  "modified" : "2025-01-21T18:00:40Z",
  "published" : "2024-08-14T17:48:06Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-42353" ],
  "summary" : "WebOb's location header normalization during redirect leads to open redirect",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nWhen WebOb normalizes the HTTP Location header to include the request hostname, it does so by parsing the URL that the user is to be redirected to with Python's urlparse, and joining it to the base URL. `urlparse` however treats a `//` at the start of a string as a URI without a scheme, and then treats the next part as the hostname. `urljoin` will then use that hostname from the second part as the hostname replacing the original one from the request.\n\n```\n>>> parse.urlparse(\"//example.com/test/path\")\nParseResult(scheme='', netloc='example.com', path='/test/path', params='', query='', fragment='')\n```\n\nWebOb uses `urljoin` to take the request URI and joining the redirect location, so assuming the request URI is: `https://example.org//example.com/some/path`, and the URL to redirect to (for example by adding a slash automatically) is `//example.com/some/path/` that gets turned by `urljoin` into:\n\n```\n>>> parse.urljoin(\"https://example.org//attacker.com/some/path\", \"//attacker.com/some/path/\")\n'https://attacker.com/some/path/'\n```\n\nWhich redirects from `example.org` where we want the user to stay to `attacker.com`\n\n\n### Patches\n\nThis issue is patched in WebOb 1.8.8\n\nOlder versions of WebOb continue to be vulnerable to this issue, and should be avoided.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nAny use of the `Response` class that includes a `location` can be rewritten to make sure to always pass a full URI that includes the hostname to redirect the user to.\n\n### Thanks\n\n- Sara Gao\n\nThis issue was reported via the [Pylons Project Security List](mailto:pylons-project-security@googlegroups.com)\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "webob"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.8.8"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 1.8.7"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Pylons/webob/security/advisories/GHSA-mg3v-6m49-jhp3"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42353"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Pylons/webob/commit/f689bcf4f0a1f64f1735b1d5069aef5be6974b5b"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Pylons/webob"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/webob/PYSEC-2024-188.yaml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-601" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-08-14T17:48:06Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2024-08-14T21:15:17Z"
  }
}