CVE-2022-21688: Onionshare cli Out-of-bounds Read Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-x7wr-283h-5h2v
CVSS 7.5
CWE-125
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-21688 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read) affecting Onionshare cli libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves out-of-bounds read in onionshare. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.5.

CVE-2022-21688 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-21688
GHSA Identifier GHSA-x7wr-283h-5h2v
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read
Affected Product Onionshare cli
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-2022-21688

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

onionshare-cli fixed: 2.5
pip install onionshare-cli>=2.5
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 onionshare-cli

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2022-21688, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show onionshare-cli

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Onionshare cli in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.5), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read, where the product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. In Onionshare cli, 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

Between September 26, 2021 and October 8, 2021, [Radically Open Security](https://www.radicallyopensecurity.com/) conducted a penetration test of OnionShare 2.4, funded by the Open Technology Fund's [Red Team lab](https://www.opentech.fund/labs/red-team-lab/). This is an issue from that penetration test. - Vulnerability ID: OTF-014 - Vulnerability type: Out-of-bounds Read - Threat level: Elevated ## Description: The desktop application was found to be vulnerable to denial of service via an undisclosed vulnerability in the QT image parsing. ## Technical description: Prerequisites: - Onion address is known - Public service or authentication is valid - Desktop application is used - History is displayed The rendering of images found in OTF-001 (page 25) could be elevated to a Denial of Service, which requires only very few bytes to be sent as a path parameter to any of the Onionshare functions. Roughly 20 bytes lead to 2GB memory consumption and this can be triggered multiple times. To be abused, this vulnerability requires rendering in the history tab, so some user interaction is required. The issue is in the process of disclosure to the QT security mailing list. More details will be provided after a fixed QT build has been deployed. ## Impact: An adversary with knowledge of the Onion service address in public mode or with authentication in private mode can perform a Denial of Service attack, which quickly results in out-of-memory for the server. This requires the desktop application with rendered history, therefore the impact is only elevated. ## Recommendation: - Monitor for upstream fix - Fix OTF-001 (page 25) as a workaround

CVE-2022-21688 Affected Onionshare cli Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
onionshare-cli
PyPI
< 2.5
2.5

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-21688?
CVE-2022-21688 is a security vulnerability in Onionshare cli involving Out-of-bounds Read in Onionshare under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read.
Which Onionshare cli versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.5 across affected packages: onionshare-cli.
What version fixes CVE-2022-21688?
Upgrading to 2.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is onionshare-cli affected?
Yes, onionshare-cli is affected in releases prior to 2.5. Upgrade your dependency to 2.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-21688?
CVE-2022-21688 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-2022-21688?
CVE-2022-21688 is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read (The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2022-21688?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show onionshare-cli'. 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-x7wr-283h-5h2v",
  "modified" : "2024-10-08T12:36:21Z",
  "published" : "2022-01-21T23:20:29Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-21688" ],
  "summary" : "Out-of-bounds Read in Onionshare",
  "details" : "Between September 26, 2021 and October 8, 2021, [Radically Open Security](https://www.radicallyopensecurity.com/) conducted a penetration test of OnionShare 2.4, funded by the Open Technology Fund's [Red Team lab](https://www.opentech.fund/labs/red-team-lab/). This is an issue from that penetration test.\n\n- Vulnerability ID: OTF-014\n- Vulnerability type: Out-of-bounds Read\n- Threat level: Elevated\n\n## Description:\n\nThe desktop application was found to be vulnerable to denial of service via an undisclosed vulnerability in the QT image parsing.\n\n## Technical description:\n\nPrerequisites:\n\n- Onion address is known\n- Public service or authentication is valid\n- Desktop application is used\n- History is displayed\n\nThe rendering of images found in OTF-001 (page 25) could be elevated to a Denial of Service, which requires only very few bytes to be sent as a path parameter to any of the Onionshare functions. Roughly 20 bytes lead to 2GB memory consumption and this can be triggered multiple times. To be abused, this vulnerability requires rendering in the history tab, so some user interaction is required. The issue is in the process of disclosure to the QT security mailing list. More details will be provided after a fixed QT build has been deployed.\n\n## Impact:\n\nAn adversary with knowledge of the Onion service address in public mode or with authentication in private mode can perform a Denial of Service attack, which quickly results in out-of-memory for the server. This requires the desktop application with rendered history, therefore the impact is only elevated.\n\n## Recommendation:\n\n- Monitor for upstream fix\n- Fix OTF-001 (page 25) as a workaround",
  "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" : "onionshare-cli"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare/security/advisories/GHSA-x7wr-283h-5h2v"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21688"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare/releases/tag/v2.5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/onionshare-cli/PYSEC-2022-39.yaml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-125" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-01-19T18:27:26Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-01-18T22:15:00Z"
  }
}