CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2023-40175NVD status: Modified

puma: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2023-40175 is a critical-severity inconsistent interpretation of HTTP requests vulnerability in puma, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 5.6.7, 6.3.1 as the first without the flaw, so updating puma to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.85% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 59% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Update puma to 5.6.7 or 6.3.1, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Pumapuma< 5.6.7; >= 6.0.0, < 6.3.1; before 5.6.7; 6.0.0 up to, but not including, 6.3.15.6.7, 6.3.1

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.17.3HighCNA (github.com)
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalNVD

Official description

Puma is a Ruby/Rack web server built for parallelism. Prior to versions 6.3.1 and 5.6.7, puma exhibited incorrect behavior when parsing chunked transfer encoding bodies and zero-length Content-Length headers in a way that allowed HTTP request smuggling. Severity of this issue is highly dependent on the nature of the web site using puma is. This could be caused by either incorrect parsing of trailing fields in chunked transfer encoding bodies or by parsing of blank/zero-length Content-Length headers. Both issues have been addressed and this vulnerability has been fixed in versions 6.3.1 and 5.6.7. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests

The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use a web server that employs a strict HTTP parsing procedure, such as Apache.
  • Terminate the client session after each request.

More Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities (CWE-444)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in puma

All puma vulnerabilities

Recent Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities

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