CVE-2020-28453 in npos-tesseract
Summary
by MITRE • 08/02/2022
This affects all versions of package npos-tesseract. The injection point is located in line 55 in lib/ocr.js.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/30/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-28453 represents a critical security flaw within the npos-tesseract package ecosystem, affecting all versions of this software component. This package serves as an optical character recognition library that processes image data to extract text content, making it a crucial element in applications that require automated document processing and text extraction capabilities. The vulnerability stems from improper input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the package's core processing functions.
The specific injection point resides in line 55 of the lib/ocr.js file, where the application fails to adequately sanitize user-provided input before processing it through the tesseract OCR engine. This location represents a classic command injection vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on the system where the package is installed. The flaw occurs during the image processing workflow when the application accepts image paths or file names without proper validation, enabling malicious actors to inject harmful commands that get interpreted and executed by the underlying OCR processing engine.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code execution, as it creates a persistent threat vector that can be exploited across multiple attack surfaces. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain full control over the affected system, potentially leading to data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or use of the compromised system as a launch point for further attacks within the network. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where the npos-tesseract package is used to process untrusted image files, such as document management systems, automated data entry platforms, or any application that accepts user-uploaded images for text extraction.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-94 categories, representing command injection and code injection weaknesses respectively, which are among the most dangerous classes of vulnerabilities in software applications. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this as a command and scripting interpreter technique, specifically targeting the execution of malicious commands through vulnerable input handling. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that many applications using this package likely process images from untrusted sources, making the exploitation relatively straightforward for threat actors who understand the nature of the vulnerability.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must be implemented at multiple levels including immediate patching of the affected package to the latest secure version, implementing strict input validation and sanitization measures, and deploying network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. Organizations should also consider implementing runtime application self-protection mechanisms and monitoring for suspicious command execution patterns. Additionally, security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments across their entire software supply chain to identify other potentially affected components that might be using vulnerable versions of the npos-tesseract package, ensuring comprehensive protection against similar threats that could arise from dependency chain vulnerabilities.