CVE-2023-2798: Htmlunit Unrestricted Recursion Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-rc44-5cmh-879m
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400 CWE-787
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-2798 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) unrestricted recursion vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Htmlunit libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves unrestricted recursion in htmlunit. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.70.0.

CVE-2023-2798 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-2798
GHSA Identifier GHSA-rc44-5cmh-879m
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Htmlunit
Package Ecosystem Maven
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-2023-2798

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

org.htmlunit:htmlunit fixed: 2.70.0 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.htmlunit</groupId>
    <artifactId>htmlunit</artifactId>
    <version>2.70.0</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.htmlunit

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-2798, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.htmlunit

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Htmlunit in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.70.0), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.htmlunit command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Htmlunit, 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

Those using HtmlUnit to browse untrusted webpages may be vulnerable to Denial of service attacks (DoS). If HtmlUnit is running on user supplied web pages, an attacker may supply content that causes HtmlUnit to crash by a stack overflow. This effect may support a denial of service attack. This issue affects HtmlUnit before 2.70.0.

CVE-2023-2798 Affected Htmlunit Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.70.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.htmlunit:htmlunit
maven/org.htmlunit/htmlunit
Maven
< 2.70.0
2.70.0

References

NVD — CVE-2023-2798 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2798
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/HtmlUnit/htmlunit/commit/940dc7fd
bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/d... WEB
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=54613
Htmlunit Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/HtmlUnit/htmlunit
Htmlunit Release RELEASE
https://github.com/HtmlUnit/htmlunit/releases/tag/2.70.0

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-2798?
CVE-2023-2798 is a security vulnerability in Htmlunit involving Unrestricted recursion in htmlunit under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Htmlunit versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.70.0 across affected packages: org.htmlunit:htmlunit.
What version fixes CVE-2023-2798?
Upgrading to 2.70.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is htmlunit affected?
Yes, org.htmlunit:htmlunit is affected in releases prior to 2.70.0. Upgrade your dependency to 2.70.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-2798?
CVE-2023-2798 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-2023-2798?
CVE-2023-2798 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-2798?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.htmlunit'. 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-rc44-5cmh-879m",
  "modified" : "2023-05-25T17:02:56Z",
  "published" : "2023-05-25T15:30:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-2798" ],
  "summary" : "Unrestricted recursion in htmlunit",
  "details" : "Those using HtmlUnit to browse untrusted webpages may be vulnerable to Denial of service attacks (DoS). If HtmlUnit is running on user supplied web pages, an attacker may supply content that causes HtmlUnit to crash by a stack overflow. This effect may support a denial of service attack. This issue affects HtmlUnit before 2.70.0.\n\n",
  "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" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.htmlunit:htmlunit"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.70.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2798"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/HtmlUnit/htmlunit/commit/940dc7fd"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=54613"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/HtmlUnit/htmlunit"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/HtmlUnit/htmlunit/releases/tag/2.70.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400", "CWE-787" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-05-25T17:02:56Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-05-25T14:15:10Z"
  }
}