CVE-2006-3380 in FreeStyle Wiki
Summary
by MITRE
Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in FreeStyle Wiki before 3.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by performing a diff between large, crafted pages that trigger the worst case.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/16/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-3380 represents a critical algorithmic complexity issue within FreeStyle Wiki version 3.6.1 and earlier, classified under CWE-400 as an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability. This flaw specifically targets the wiki's diff functionality, which is used to compare and display differences between page versions. The vulnerability arises from the implementation's inability to handle certain crafted input patterns efficiently, leading to exponential time complexity during diff operations.
Attackers can exploit this weakness by creating specially crafted wiki pages of significant size and then initiating diff operations between these pages. The system processes these inputs through a worst-case scenario algorithm that consumes CPU resources at an exponential rate, effectively allowing remote attackers to perform denial of service attacks. The vulnerability does not require authentication and can be triggered over the network, making it particularly dangerous in publicly accessible wiki environments.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can consume substantial computational resources and potentially affect other services running on the same system. The attack vector involves sending maliciously constructed page data to the wiki server, which then processes these inputs through the vulnerable diff algorithm. This creates a resource exhaustion condition that can bring the entire wiki service to a halt, impacting all users who depend on the platform for collaborative content management.
Security practitioners should consider this vulnerability in the context of the ATT&CK framework under the T1499.004 technique for Network Denial of Service, and the broader category of resource exhaustion attacks. The fix for this vulnerability involved implementing more efficient diff algorithms and introducing input validation measures to prevent the worst-case complexity scenarios from occurring. Organizations running FreeStyle Wiki should prioritize upgrading to version 3.6.2 or later, as this release contains the necessary patches to address the algorithmic complexity issues. Additionally, implementing rate limiting and input sanitization measures can provide additional defense-in-depth protection against similar vulnerabilities in other systems.