CVE-2018-11488 in dtSearch
Summary
by MITRE
A stack exhaustion vulnerability in the search function of dtSearch 7.90.8538.1 and prior allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service condition by sending a specially crafted HTTP request.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/09/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-11488 represents a critical stack exhaustion issue within the dtSearch 7.90.8538.1 software suite and earlier versions. This flaw specifically impacts the search functionality of the application, creating a remote denial of service condition that can be exploited by malicious actors without requiring authentication or privileged access. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of input data within the search processing pipeline, where recursive or deeply nested operations consume excessive stack memory resources. According to CWE-772, this vulnerability falls under the category of missing resource exhaustion protection, which directly relates to the stack overflow conditions that occur when the application processes specially crafted HTTP requests. The issue manifests when the search function encounters malformed or excessively complex query parameters that trigger recursive parsing operations, leading to uncontrolled stack consumption.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can be leveraged to create persistent denial of service conditions that affect legitimate users and systems. Attackers can craft HTTP requests containing malformed search parameters that cause the dtSearch application to enter infinite recursion or extremely deep recursive processing loops. This behavior results in stack exhaustion, where the application's execution stack becomes completely consumed, leading to application crashes and complete service unavailability. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the application layer, making it difficult to detect through traditional network-based intrusion detection systems and allowing attackers to remain undetected while consuming system resources. The attack surface is broad as any system running dtSearch with exposed search functionality becomes a potential target for exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-11488 should prioritize immediate patching of affected dtSearch versions to the latest available releases that contain stack overflow protection mechanisms and input validation improvements. Organizations should implement network-level restrictions to limit access to search endpoints and consider deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block malformed HTTP requests targeting the vulnerable search functionality. According to ATT&CK framework technique T1499.004, this vulnerability represents a denial of service attack vector that can be used to disrupt business operations and compromise system availability. System administrators should also implement monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual stack consumption patterns and implement rate limiting on search queries to prevent exploitation. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their dtSearch implementations to identify all potential attack surfaces and ensure that proper input sanitization and resource limit enforcement mechanisms are in place to prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in other components of their search infrastructure.