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GHSA-q3gg-m8hr-h4x4

HighCVSS 8.5 / 10
Published Feb 21, 2024·Last modified Feb 21, 2024
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

The rquickjs crate used by SurrealDB implements Rust bindings to the QuickJS C library and is used to execute SurrealDB scripting functions. The rquickjs function Exception::throw_type takes a string and returns an error object. Prior to version 0.4.2 of the crate, this string would be fed directly into printf, which will receive the error string as a format string with no additional arguments, leading to undefined behavior. This issue triggers when a SurrealDB scripting function returns an error and its input contains a format string such as %s or %d.

This vulnerability can only affect SurrealDB servers explicitly enabling the scripting capability with --allow-scripting or --allow-all and equivalent environment variables SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_SCRIPT=true and SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL=true.

Impact

An attacker with privileges to execute scripting functions with arbitrary inputs may be able to exploit this format string vulnerability in order read arbitrary memory from the remote SurrealDB process. A format string vulnerability may also be further exploited to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the SurrealDB process.

The fact that error messages are limited to 256 bytes coupled with exploit mitigation features supported in Rust executables may somewhat increase the complexity of exploiting this vulnerability to reliably achieve remote code execution in practice.

Patches

  • Version 1.1.1 and later are not affected by this issue.

Workarounds

Users unable to update should restrict access from untrusted users to define and execute scripting functions. This can be achieved by removing the scripting capability by default or with --deny-scripting and equivalent environment variable SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_SCRIPT=true. If not possible, network access should be limited to trusted users.

References

  • https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/issues/3327
  • https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/pull/3332
  • https://github.com/DelSkayn/rquickjs/pull/247
Risk Scores
Base Score
8.5

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is difficult for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability and may require special conditions. An attacker needs basic access or low-level privileges. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability can affect other systems as well, not just the initial system. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
7.8

Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.

EPSS
0.30%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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