CVE-2022-3272: Rdiffweb Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qrj3-hrgj-fm7r
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-130
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-3272 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency) affecting Rdiffweb libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves rdiffweb's unlimited length email field can lead to dos. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.4.8.

CVE-2022-3272 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-3272
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qrj3-hrgj-fm7r
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency
Affected Product Rdiffweb
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-2022-3272

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

rdiffweb fixed: 2.4.8 
pip install rdiffweb>=2.4.8
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 rdiffweb

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2022-3272, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show rdiffweb

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Rdiffweb in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.4.8), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency, where the product parses a formatted message or structure, but it does not handle or incorrectly handles a length field that is inconsistent with the actual length of the associated data. In Rdiffweb, 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

rdiffweb prior to 2.4.8 does not validate email length, allowing users to insert an email longer than 255 characters. If a user signs up with an email with a length of 1 million or more characters and logs in, withdraws, or changes their email, the server may cause denial of service due to overload. Version 2.4.8 sets length limits for username, email, and root directory.

CVE-2022-3272 Affected Rdiffweb Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.4.8
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
rdiffweb
pypi/rdiffweb
PyPI
< 2.4.8
2.4.8

References

NVD — CVE-2022-3272 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3272
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/ikus060/rdiffweb/commit/667657c6fe2b336c90be37f37fb92f65df4feee3
Rdiffweb Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/ikus060/rdiffweb
Rdiffweb Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/rdiffweb/PYSEC-2022-291.yaml
huntr.com/bounties/733678b9-d... WEB
https://huntr.com/bounties/733678b9-daa1-4d6a-875a-382fa09a6e38

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-3272?
CVE-2022-3272 is a security vulnerability in Rdiffweb involving rdiffweb's unlimited length email field can lead to DoS under CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency.
Which Rdiffweb versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.4.8 across affected packages: rdiffweb.
What version fixes CVE-2022-3272?
Upgrading to 2.4.8 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is rdiffweb affected?
Yes, rdiffweb is affected in releases prior to 2.4.8. Upgrade your dependency to 2.4.8 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-3272?
CVE-2022-3272 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-2022-3272?
CVE-2022-3272 is classified under CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency (The product parses a formatted message or structure, but it does not handle or incorrectly handles a length field that is inconsistent with the actual length of the associated data.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2022-3272?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show rdiffweb'. 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-qrj3-hrgj-fm7r",
  "modified" : "2025-05-21T18:46:55Z",
  "published" : "2022-09-27T00:00:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-3272" ],
  "summary" : "rdiffweb's unlimited length email field can lead to DoS",
  "details" : "rdiffweb prior to 2.4.8 does not validate email length, allowing users to insert an email longer than 255 characters. If a user signs up with an email with a length of 1 million or more characters and logs in, withdraws, or changes their email, the server may cause denial of service due to overload. Version 2.4.8 sets length limits for username, email, and root directory.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "rdiffweb"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.4.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3272"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ikus060/rdiffweb/commit/667657c6fe2b336c90be37f37fb92f65df4feee3"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ikus060/rdiffweb"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/rdiffweb/PYSEC-2022-291.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://huntr.com/bounties/733678b9-daa1-4d6a-875a-382fa09a6e38"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-130" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-09-30T04:39:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-09-26T17:16:00Z"
  }
}