CVE-2016-10132 in MuJS
Summary
by MITRE
regexp.c in Artifex Software, Inc. MuJS allows attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via vectors related to regular expression compilation.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/15/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-10132 resides within the MuJS JavaScript interpreter developed by Artifex Software Inc., specifically in the regexp.c file responsible for regular expression compilation functionality. This flaw represents a critical denial of service vulnerability that can be exploited by remote attackers to crash the application through carefully crafted malicious input. The issue manifests as a NULL pointer dereference during the processing of malformed regular expressions, causing the interpreter to terminate unexpectedly and potentially disrupting service availability for legitimate users. The vulnerability falls under the category of software quality flaws that can be exploited to compromise system stability and availability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and error handling within the regular expression compilation engine of MuJS. When the interpreter encounters malformed or specially crafted regular expression patterns, the compilation process fails to properly validate pointer references, leading to a NULL pointer dereference condition. This occurs during the parsing and compilation phases where the system attempts to process user-supplied regular expressions without adequate safeguards against malformed inputs. The flaw is particularly dangerous because regular expression processing is a common operation in JavaScript environments, making it accessible through various attack vectors including web applications, scripting interfaces, and embedded systems that utilize MuJS. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-476 which describes NULL pointer dereference conditions that can lead to application crashes and system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially enable more sophisticated attack scenarios. An attacker could exploit this weakness to repeatedly crash services that depend on MuJS for JavaScript execution, effectively creating a denial of service condition that prevents legitimate users from accessing application functionality. In web application contexts, this vulnerability could be leveraged to target server-side JavaScript processing, potentially affecting multiple concurrent users or sessions. The crash condition creates a predictable failure pattern that can be automated for sustained disruption attacks. Organizations using MuJS in production environments face significant risk of service interruptions, particularly those that rely on JavaScript processing for dynamic content generation or user interaction handling. This vulnerability also demonstrates the importance of input validation in scripting engines and highlights the potential for seemingly benign functionality to become attack vectors.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-10132 should focus on immediate patching of affected MuJS versions, implementing robust input validation measures, and establishing monitoring for abnormal application behavior. System administrators should prioritize updating to patched versions of MuJS where available, as this represents the most direct solution to address the underlying flaw. Organizations should also implement input sanitization measures that validate regular expression patterns before processing, particularly when handling user-supplied data. Network-level protections such as intrusion detection systems can help identify exploitation attempts by monitoring for patterns associated with malformed regular expressions. Additionally, implementing proper error handling and graceful degradation mechanisms within applications using MuJS can help prevent complete service crashes even if the underlying vulnerability cannot be immediately patched. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under privilege escalation and denial of service techniques, emphasizing the need for comprehensive defensive measures that address both immediate exploitation and broader security posture strengthening.