CVE-2019-14993: Istio.io/istio Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qcvw-82hh-gq38
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-185
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-14993 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-185: Incorrect Regular Expression) affecting Istio.io/istio libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves istio redos vulnerability. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.1.13, 1.2.4.

CVE-2019-14993 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-14993
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qcvw-82hh-gq38
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-185: Incorrect Regular Expression
Affected Product Istio.io/istio
Package Ecosystem Go
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-2019-14993

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

istio.io/istio fixed: 1.1.13 
Upgrade istio.io/istio to 1.1.13
istio.io/istio fixed: 1.2.4 
Upgrade istio.io/istio to 1.2.4
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 istio.io/istio

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2019-14993, inspect your project dependencies for Istio.io/istio:

inspect dependencies for istio.io/istio

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Istio.io/istio in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.1.13), 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-185: Incorrect Regular Expression, where the product specifies a regular expression in a way that causes data to be improperly matched or compared. In Istio.io/istio, 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

Istio before 1.1.13 and 1.2.x before 1.2.4 mishandles regular expressions for long URIs, leading to a denial of service during use of the JWT, VirtualService, HTTPAPISpecBinding, or QuotaSpecBinding API.

CVE-2019-14993 Affected Istio.io/istio Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.1.131.2.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
istio.io/istio
golang/istio.io/istio
Go
< 1.1.13
1.1.13
istio.io/istio
golang/istio.io/istio
Go
≥ 1.2.0
< 1.2.4
1.2.4

References

NVD — CVE-2019-14993 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-14993
Istio.io/istio Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/envoyproxy/envoy/issues/7728
Istio.io/istio Security Information SECURITY
https://discuss.istio.io/t/upcoming-security-updates-in-istio-1-2-4-and-1-1-13/3383
gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.c... WEB
https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=86164
Istio.io/istio Security Information SECURITY
https://istio.io/blog/2019/istio-security-003-004

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-14993?
CVE-2019-14993 is a security vulnerability in Istio.io/istio involving Istio ReDoS Vulnerability under CWE-185: Incorrect Regular Expression.
Which Istio.io/istio versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.1.13, 1.2.4 across affected packages: istio.io/istio.
What version fixes CVE-2019-14993?
Upgrading to 1.1.13, 1.2.4 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is istio.io/istio affected?
Yes, istio.io/istio is affected in releases prior to 1.1.13, 1.2.4. Upgrade your dependency to 1.1.13, 1.2.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-14993?
CVE-2019-14993 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-2019-14993?
CVE-2019-14993 is classified under CWE-185: Incorrect Regular Expression (The product specifies a regular expression in a way that causes data to be improperly matched or compared.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2019-14993?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for istio.io/istio'. 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-qcvw-82hh-gq38",
  "modified" : "2023-07-17T21:05:13Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T16:53:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-14993" ],
  "summary" : "Istio ReDoS Vulnerability",
  "details" : "Istio before 1.1.13 and 1.2.x before 1.2.4 mishandles regular expressions for long URIs, leading to a denial of service during use of the JWT, VirtualService, HTTPAPISpecBinding, or QuotaSpecBinding API.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "istio.io/istio"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.1.13"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "istio.io/istio"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.2.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.2.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-14993"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/envoyproxy/envoy/issues/7728"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://discuss.istio.io/t/upcoming-security-updates-in-istio-1-2-4-and-1-1-13/3383"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=86164"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://istio.io/blog/2019/istio-security-003-004"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-185" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-07-17T21:05:13Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-08-13T18:15:00Z"
  }
}