CVE-2019-6986 in Vitro
Summary
by MITRE
SPARQL Injection in VIVO Vitro v1.10.0 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary SPARQL via the uri parameter, leading to a regular expression denial of service (ReDoS), as demonstrated by crafted use of FILTER%20regex in a /individual?uri= request.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/03/2023
The vulnerability CVE-2019-6986 represents a critical security flaw in the VIVO Vitro platform version 1.10.0 that exposes the system to SPARQL injection attacks. This vulnerability specifically affects the uri parameter handling within the individual endpoint, where the application fails to properly sanitize user input before incorporating it into SPARQL queries. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate the system by injecting malicious SPARQL syntax through the uri parameter, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, manipulation, or system disruption. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it allows for regular expression denial of service attacks through the exploitation of FILTER regex functions within SPARQL queries.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the VIVO Vitro application's query processing pipeline. When a user submits a request to the /individual?uri= endpoint with a crafted uri parameter containing malicious SPARQL syntax, the application directly incorporates this input into the SPARQL query without proper escaping or validation. This allows attackers to inject additional SPARQL commands, particularly leveraging the FILTER regex functionality which can be exploited to create resource exhaustion conditions. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-94, which describes "Improper Control of Generation of Code" and specifically relates to code injection vulnerabilities that occur when user input is not properly sanitized before being used in dynamic code generation contexts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data access violations to include potential system resource exhaustion and denial of service conditions. Attackers can construct malicious regex patterns that cause the regular expression engine to consume excessive CPU cycles and memory resources, leading to service degradation or complete system unavailability. This type of attack pattern aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: Python" and T1499.004 for "Network Denial of Service: Application Exhaustion" by leveraging the system's SPARQL processing capabilities to create resource exhaustion conditions. The vulnerability particularly affects systems that rely on SPARQL query processing for data retrieval and presentation, making it a significant concern for semantic web applications and linked data platforms.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust input validation and sanitization measures within the application's query processing layer. Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided patches or upgrade to versions that address this vulnerability, as the flaw affects the core query processing functionality of the VIVO platform. Input validation should include strict parameter filtering to prevent SPARQL syntax injection, particularly around regex functions and filter operations. Additionally, implementing proper parameterized queries or query building mechanisms can prevent direct concatenation of user input into SPARQL statements. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls and rate limiting can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to detect and block malicious requests. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual SPARQL query patterns and resource consumption anomalies that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in semantic web applications and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of SPARQL query interfaces to prevent similar injection vulnerabilities.