CVE-2023-33192: Ntpd Improper Handling Of NTS Cookie Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qwhm-h7v3-mrjx
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-130
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-33192 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) improper handling of nts cookie vulnerability (CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency) affecting Ntpd libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves improper handling of nts cookie length that could crash the ntpd-rs server. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.3.3.

CVE-2023-33192 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-33192
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qwhm-h7v3-mrjx
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency
Affected Product Ntpd
Package Ecosystem crates.io
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-2023-33192

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

ntpd fixed: 0.3.3 
Upgrade ntpd to 0.3.3
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 ntpd

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-33192, inspect your project dependencies for Ntpd:

inspect dependencies for ntpd

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Ntpd in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.3.3), 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-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 Ntpd, 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

### Impact ntpd-rs does not validate the length of NTS cookies in received NTP packets to the server. An attacker can crash the server by sending a specially crafted NTP packet containing a cookie shorter than what the server expects. The server also crashes when it is not configured to handle NTS packets. ntpd-rs running purely as an ntp client is not affected. ### Patches The issue was caused by improper slice indexing. The indexing operations were replaced by safer alternatives that do not crash the ntpd-rs server process but instead properly handle the error condition. A patch was released in version 0.3.3 ### Workarounds ntpd-rs running purely as an ntp client is not affected. By default, ntpd-rs packages are not configured to run as a server. For machines where serving the time is required, there is no known workaround. Users are recommended to upgrade ntpd-rs as soon as possible. ### References https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/pull/752 We would like to thank @mlichvar for identifying this issue

CVE-2023-33192 Affected Ntpd Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.3.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
ntpd
 crates.io
≥ 0.3.0
< 0.3.3
0.3.3

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/security/advisories/GHSA-qwhm-h7v3-mrjx
NVD — CVE-2023-33192 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-33192
Ntpd Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/pull/752
Ntpd Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs
Ntpd Release RELEASE
https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/releases/tag/v0.3.3

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-33192?
CVE-2023-33192 is a security vulnerability in Ntpd involving Improper handling of NTS cookie length that could crash the ntpd-rs server under CWE-130: Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency.
Which Ntpd versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.3.3 across affected packages: ntpd.
What version fixes CVE-2023-33192?
Upgrading to 0.3.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is ntpd affected?
Yes, ntpd is affected in releases prior to 0.3.3. Upgrade your dependency to 0.3.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-33192?
CVE-2023-33192 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-2023-33192?
CVE-2023-33192 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 crates.io dependencies for CVE-2023-33192?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for ntpd'. 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-qwhm-h7v3-mrjx",
  "modified" : "2023-05-30T09:05:58Z",
  "published" : "2023-05-25T17:01:12Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-33192" ],
  "summary" : "Improper handling of NTS cookie length that could crash the ntpd-rs server",
  "details" : "### Impact\nntpd-rs does not validate the length of NTS cookies in received NTP packets to the server. An attacker can crash the server by sending a specially crafted NTP packet containing a cookie shorter than what the server expects. The server also crashes when it is not configured to handle NTS packets.\n\nntpd-rs running purely as an ntp client is not affected.\n\n### Patches\nThe issue was caused by improper slice indexing. The indexing operations were replaced by safer alternatives that do not crash the ntpd-rs server process but instead properly handle the error condition. A patch was released in version 0.3.3\n\n### Workarounds\nntpd-rs running purely as an ntp client is not affected. By default, ntpd-rs packages are not configured to run as a server.\n\nFor machines where serving the time is required, there is no known workaround. Users are recommended to upgrade ntpd-rs as soon as possible.\n\n### References\nhttps://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/pull/752\n\nWe would like to thank @mlichvar for identifying this issue\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" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "ntpd"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.3.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.3.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/security/advisories/GHSA-qwhm-h7v3-mrjx"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-33192"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/pull/752"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/releases/tag/v0.3.3"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-130" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-05-25T17:01:12Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-05-27T04:15:25Z"
  }
}