CVE-2012-5499: Plone Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-wrf2-2rch-cmr9
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-770
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2012-5499 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) affecting Plone libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves plone is vulnerable to denial of service. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.2.3, 4.3b1.

CVE-2012-5499 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2012-5499
GHSA Identifier GHSA-wrf2-2rch-cmr9
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Affected Product Plone
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:3.1/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-2012-5499

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

Plone fixed: 4.2.3 
pip install Plone>=4.2.3
Plone fixed: 4.3b1 
pip install Plone>=4.3b1
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 Plone

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2012-5499, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show Plone

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Plone in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.2.3), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling, where the product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated. In Plone, 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

python_scripts.py in Plone before 4.2.3 and 4.3 before beta 1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large value, related to `formatColumns`.

CVE-2012-5499 Affected Plone Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.2.34.3b1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
Plone
pypi/Plone
PyPI
≥ 4.0
< 4.2.3
4.2.3
Plone
pypi/Plone
PyPI
≥ 4.3a1
< 4.3b1
4.3b1

References

NVD — CVE-2012-5499 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-5499
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2014:11... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014:1194
Plone Security Information SECURITY
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-5499
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=874657
Plone Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/plone/Plone
Plone Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/plone/Products.CMFPlone/blob/4.2.3/docs/CHANGES.txt
Plone Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/plone/PYSEC-2014-41.yaml
Plone Release RELEASE
https://plone.org/products/plone-hotfix/releases/20121106
Plone Security Information SECURITY
https://plone.org/products/plone/security/advisories/20121106/15
rhn.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2014-11... WEB
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1194.html
Plone Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/11/10/1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2012-5499?
CVE-2012-5499 is a security vulnerability in Plone involving Plone is vulnerable to denial of service under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling.
Which Plone versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.2.3, 4.3b1 across affected packages: Plone.
What version fixes CVE-2012-5499?
Upgrading to 4.2.3, 4.3b1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is Plone affected?
Yes, Plone is affected in releases prior to 4.2.3, 4.3b1. Upgrade your dependency to 4.2.3, 4.3b1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-5499?
CVE-2012-5499 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-2012-5499?
CVE-2012-5499 is classified under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2012-5499?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show Plone'. 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-wrf2-2rch-cmr9",
  "modified" : "2024-10-14T21:41:07Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-17T04:31:18Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2012-5499" ],
  "summary" : "Plone is vulnerable to denial of service",
  "details" : "python_scripts.py in Plone before 4.2.3 and 4.3 before beta 1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large value, related to `formatColumns`.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "Plone"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.2.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "Plone"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.3a1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.3b1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-5499"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014:1194"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-5499"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=874657"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/plone/Plone"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/plone/Products.CMFPlone/blob/4.2.3/docs/CHANGES.txt"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/plone/PYSEC-2014-41.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://plone.org/products/plone-hotfix/releases/20121106"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://plone.org/products/plone/security/advisories/20121106/15"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1194.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/11/10/1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-770" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-02-08T17:55:14Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2014-09-30T14:55:00Z"
  }
}