CVE-2020-37039 in Frigate
Summary
by MITRE • 01/31/2026
Frigate 2.02 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows attackers to crash the application by sending oversized input to the command line interface. Attackers can generate a payload of 8000 repeated characters and paste it into the application's command line field to trigger an application crash.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/31/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-37039 affects Frigate 2.02, a video surveillance application designed for real-time video processing and analysis. This denial of service flaw represents a critical weakness in the application's input validation mechanisms, specifically within its command line interface component. The vulnerability stems from inadequate bounds checking and buffer management when processing user-supplied input, creating an environment where malicious actors can exploit the system's lack of proper input sanitization. The affected application fails to implement proper input length validation, allowing attackers to submit arbitrarily long payloads that exceed the system's expected parameter limits.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a straightforward yet effective method involving the submission of an oversized payload consisting of 8000 repeated characters directly into the command line interface field. This specific input size triggers a buffer overflow condition or memory allocation error within the application's processing pipeline, causing the system to crash and terminate unexpectedly. The vulnerability manifests as a classic buffer overrun scenario where the application attempts to process input that exceeds allocated memory boundaries, leading to memory corruption and subsequent application instability. The command line interface serves as the primary attack vector, making it accessible to any user with the ability to interact with the application's terminal input mechanisms.
From an operational perspective, this denial of service vulnerability creates significant risks for organizations relying on Frigate for security monitoring and surveillance operations. The ability to crash the application with a simple payload of repeated characters means that adversaries can effectively disrupt security operations without requiring advanced technical skills or specialized tools. The impact extends beyond mere application unavailability, as the system crash may result in loss of critical video surveillance data, gaps in security monitoring, and potential compromise of the entire surveillance infrastructure. Organizations using this software may experience extended downtime during recovery periods, with potential cascading effects on other connected systems that depend on continuous video processing capabilities.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-122, which describes improper restriction of operations within a limited memory buffer, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices for input validation and memory management. The flaw also maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, as the vulnerability enables an attacker to disrupt the availability of the application's services. Additionally, the issue demonstrates characteristics of CWE-770, which addresses allocation of resources without limits or throttling, indicating that the application fails to implement proper resource management controls. Organizations should consider implementing input length restrictions, memory protection mechanisms, and proper error handling procedures to prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in their systems.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation controls that enforce strict limits on command line parameter lengths and character sets. System administrators should configure the application to reject inputs exceeding predetermined safe thresholds, typically well below the 8000-character limit that triggers the crash. The implementation of proper buffer management techniques, including dynamic memory allocation with bounds checking, would prevent the memory corruption that leads to application termination. Additionally, organizations should deploy monitoring solutions to detect unusual command line activity patterns that might indicate attempted exploitation. Regular security updates and patches should be applied immediately upon availability, while application hardening measures such as privilege separation and sandboxing can provide additional protection layers. Network segmentation and access control measures should limit exposure of the vulnerable command line interface to authorized personnel only, reducing the attack surface and potential impact of successful exploitation attempts.