CVE-2008-3429 in HTTrack
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in URI processing in HTTrack and WinHTTrack before 3.42-3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a long URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/15/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-3429 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw in the URI processing functionality of HTTrack and WinHTTrack web crawling tools. This issue affects versions prior to 3.42-3 and demonstrates a classic software security weakness that can be exploited remotely to compromise system integrity. The vulnerability specifically manifests during the handling of Uniform Resource Identifiers where the application fails to properly validate input length, leading to memory corruption when processing excessively long URLs. The flaw resides in the core parsing mechanism responsible for interpreting web addresses and converting them into internal data structures for web crawling operations. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking allows attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations. The impact extends beyond simple denial of service to potentially enabling arbitrary code execution, making this a particularly dangerous vulnerability for systems that process untrusted web content through these tools.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to craft a maliciously long URL that exceeds the allocated buffer size in the HTTrack application's URI parsing routine. When the application attempts to process such a malformed URL, the buffer overflow occurs during string manipulation operations, causing the program to crash or potentially allowing the execution of malicious code injected into the overflowed memory regions. The attack vector is remote and requires no authentication, making it particularly dangerous for web crawling applications that may encounter untrusted URLs from various sources. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation practices and inadequate memory management, characteristics commonly associated with buffer overflow conditions in C and C++ applications. The specific nature of the flaw suggests that the application uses fixed-size buffers for URI storage without proper bounds checking or dynamic memory allocation to handle variable-length input. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation of software vulnerabilities for privilege escalation and code execution.
The operational impact of CVE-2008-3429 extends significantly beyond immediate system crashes, as it can be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks depending on the environment where HTTrack is deployed. Systems that rely on these web crawling tools for automated content fetching, web archiving, or security scanning operations become vulnerable to remote compromise when exposed to malicious URLs. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that use HTTrack for automated web scraping or content mirroring, as these applications may encounter untrusted URLs from web sources. The potential for arbitrary code execution means that attackers could gain unauthorized access to systems running vulnerable versions, potentially leading to complete system compromise. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability was present in widely used web crawling tools, making it a significant concern for organizations that deploy these applications in production environments without proper patching procedures. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of input sanitization and proper memory management in applications that process user-supplied data. Organizations using these tools should implement immediate mitigation strategies while planning for comprehensive system updates to address this security flaw. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical need for regular security patching and proper software lifecycle management to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.