CVE-2019-10797 in transport-http
Summary
by MITRE
Netty in WSO2 transport-http before v6.3.1 is vulnerable to HTTP Response Splitting due to HTTP Header validation being disabled.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/20/2020
WSO2 transport-http versions prior to v6.3.1 contain a critical vulnerability that enables HTTP response splitting attacks through improper validation of HTTP headers. This vulnerability arises from the disabling of HTTP header validation mechanisms within the Netty transport layer, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject malicious content into HTTP responses. The flaw specifically impacts the HTTP protocol handling within the WSO2 ecosystem, where the transport-http component serves as a core communication layer for various services.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper input sanitization and validation of HTTP header values. When WSO2 transport-http processes incoming HTTP requests, it fails to adequately validate or sanitize header fields that may contain user-supplied data. This allows attackers to craft malicious HTTP requests containing specially formatted header values that can cause the application to split HTTP responses into multiple parts, enabling various attack vectors including cache poisoning, cross-site scripting, and session hijacking. The vulnerability operates at the protocol level where HTTP headers are processed without sufficient validation, creating a direct pathway for header injection attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple protocol violations to encompass significant security risks for organizations utilizing affected WSO2 versions. Attackers can exploit this weakness to manipulate HTTP responses, potentially redirecting users to malicious sites, injecting malicious content into web pages, or compromising session integrity. The vulnerability affects the entire WSO2 transport-http component and can impact any service that relies on this transport mechanism, including API gateways, service endpoints, and integration platforms. This creates a cascading security risk across the entire WSO2 ecosystem where the vulnerable component serves as a communication backbone.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to WSO2 transport-http version 6.3.1 or later, which includes proper HTTP header validation mechanisms. Additionally, administrators should deploy web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious HTTP header patterns, implement strict input validation at the application level, and conduct comprehensive security testing of HTTP header processing. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-113, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of CRLF characters in HTTP headers, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for data from information repositories, as attackers can manipulate stored HTTP responses to gain unauthorized access to system resources. Regular security audits and monitoring of HTTP traffic patterns should be implemented to detect potential exploitation attempts, while network segmentation can help limit the impact if exploitation occurs.