CVE-2019-15225 : What You Need to Know

Envoy version 1.11.1 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack due to excessive memory consumption when processing requests with long URIs.

Understanding CVE-2019-15225

This CVE describes a vulnerability in Envoy that can be exploited by a remote attacker to cause a denial of service by sending requests with excessively long URIs.

What is CVE-2019-15225?

Users configuring a path header matching route in Envoy version 1.11.1 using the libstdc++ regular expression implementation are susceptible to a denial of service attack.

The Impact of CVE-2019-15225

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trigger excessive memory consumption, leading to a denial of service condition.

Technical Details of CVE-2019-15225

Envoy through version 1.11.1 allows users to configure routes matching incoming path headers using libstdc++ regular expressions, which can be exploited by attackers.

Vulnerability Description

A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending requests with very long URIs, causing a denial of service due to memory consumption.

Affected Systems and Versions

Envoy version 1.11.1

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers send requests with excessively long URIs to trigger memory consumption and denial of service.

Mitigation and Prevention

It is crucial to take immediate steps to mitigate the impact of CVE-2019-15225 and implement long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply patches or updates provided by Envoy to address the vulnerability.
Monitor and restrict URI lengths in incoming requests to prevent exploitation.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update Envoy to the latest version to ensure security patches are applied.
Implement network-level protections to detect and block malicious requests.

Patching and Updates

Stay informed about security advisories from Envoy and promptly apply recommended patches to protect against known vulnerabilities.