CVE-2022-24836 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

Nokogiri

< v1.13.4

has an inefficient regular expression that leads to excessive backtracking when detecting encoding in HTML, affecting the Ruby library's security.

Understanding CVE-2022-24836

This vulnerability stems from an inefficient regular expression in Nokogiri

< v1.13.4

, potentially causing denial of service due to high CPU usage.

What is CVE-2022-24836?

The CVE-2022-24836 vulnerability in Nokogiri

< v1.13.4

arises from a regex flaw triggering excessive backtracking while identifying encoding in HTML documents.

The Impact of CVE-2022-24836

The vulnerability can be exploited to mount denial-of-service attacks, leading to high CPU consumption and service unavailability.

Technical Details of CVE-2022-24836

The vulnerability falls under CWE-400 and CWE-1333 categories, representing uncontrolled resource consumption and inefficient regex complexity, respectively.

Vulnerability Description

Nokogiri

< v1.13.4

inefficiently handles regular expressions, allowing attackers to perform CPU-intensive operations, impacting system performance.

Affected Systems and Versions

Vendor: sparklemotion
Product: nokogiri
Versions Affected: < 1.13.4

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers can exploit the inefficient regular expression in Nokogiri

< v1.13.4

to trigger resource exhaustion, leading to denial of service.

Mitigation and Prevention

To address CVE-2022-24836, users are advised to upgrade to Nokogiri version

>= 1.13.4

to mitigate the vulnerability and enhance security.

Immediate Steps to Take

Upgrade Nokogiri to version

>= 1.13.4

to address the inefficient regex issue and prevent potential denial-of-service attacks.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly monitor security advisories and apply updates promptly to protect against known vulnerabilities like CVE-2022-24836.

Patching and Updates

Refer to vendor advisories and security bulletins for guidance on patching Nokogiri and ensuring that systems are updated with the latest security fixes.