CVE-2019-15552: Libflate Use After Free Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-rpcm-whqc-jfw8
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-15552 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) use after free vulnerability (CWE-416: Use After Free) affecting Libflate libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves use after free in libflate. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.1.25.

CVE-2019-15552 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-15552
GHSA Identifier GHSA-rpcm-whqc-jfw8
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-416: Use After Free
Affected Product Libflate
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

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:H/I:H/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 High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2019-15552

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

libflate fixed: 0.1.25 
Upgrade libflate to 0.1.25
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 libflate

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2019-15552, inspect your project dependencies for Libflate:

inspect dependencies for libflate

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Libflate in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.1.25), 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-416: Use After Free, where the product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. at some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer. In Libflate, 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

An issue was discovered in the libflate crate before 0.1.25 for Rust. MultiDecoder::read has a use-after-free, leading to arbitrary code execution.

CVE-2019-15552 Affected Libflate Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.1.25
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
libflate
 crates.io
≥ 0.1.14
< 0.1.25
0.1.25

References

NVD — CVE-2019-15552 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-15552
Libflate Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sile/libflate/issues/35
Libflate Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sile/libflate/pull/37
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/sile/libflate/commit/ffeff7c65deac5a6f886db2a59bcae4e420e4706
Libflate Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sile/libflate
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2019-0010.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-15552?
CVE-2019-15552 is a security vulnerability in Libflate involving Use after free in libflate under CWE-416: Use After Free.
Which Libflate versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.1.25 across affected packages: libflate.
What version fixes CVE-2019-15552?
Upgrading to 0.1.25 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is libflate affected?
Yes, libflate is affected in releases prior to 0.1.25. Upgrade your dependency to 0.1.25 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-15552?
CVE-2019-15552 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-15552?
CVE-2019-15552 is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free (The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2019-15552?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for libflate'. 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-rpcm-whqc-jfw8",
  "modified" : "2021-08-19T21:22:31Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-25T20:44:53Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-15552" ],
  "summary" : "Use after free in libflate",
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in the libflate crate before 0.1.25 for Rust. MultiDecoder::read has a use-after-free, leading to arbitrary code execution.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "libflate"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.1.14"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.1.25"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-15552"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sile/libflate/issues/35"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sile/libflate/pull/37"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sile/libflate/commit/ffeff7c65deac5a6f886db2a59bcae4e420e4706"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sile/libflate"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2019-0010.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-416" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-19T21:22:31Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-08-26T15:15:00Z"
  }
}