CVE-2023-25578 Starlite DoS vulnerability when parsing multipart request body
An attacker can cause denial of service in Starlite applications by sending excessive multipart requests, consuming CPU and memory resources.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-25578?
CVE-2023-25578 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in starlite-api starlite, published on 15 Feb 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Starlite is an Asynchronous Server Gateway Interface (ASGI) framework. Prior to version 1.5.2, the request body parsing in `starlite` allows a potentially unauthenticated attacker to consume a large amount of CPU time and RAM. The multipart body parser processes an unlimited number of file parts and an unlimited number of field parts. This is a remote, potentially unauthenticated Denial of Service vulnerability. This vulnerability affects applications with a request handler that accepts a `Body(media_type=RequestEncodingType.MULTI_PART)`. The large amount of CPU time required for processing requests can block all available worker processes and significantly delay or slow down the processing of legitimate user requests. The large amount of RAM accumulated while processing requests can lead to Out-Of-Memory kills. Complete DoS is achievable by sending many concurrent multipart requests in a loop. Version 1.51.2 contains a patch for this issue.
Weakness: CWE-770
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-25578?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including starlite. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
starlite PyPI | All versions | 1.51.2 |
starlite PyPI | All versions | 1.51.2 |
starlite PyPI | All versions | 1.51.2 |
Products include Starliteproject Starlite.
How do I fix CVE-2023-25578?
Upgrade starlite to 1.51.2 or later.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2023-25578 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-25578 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-p24m-863f-fm6q, PYSEC-2023-49.