CVE-2022-1930 in eth-account
Summary
by MITRE • 08/22/2022
An exponential ReDoS (Regular Expression Denial of Service) can be triggered in the eth-account PyPI package, when an attacker is able to supply arbitrary input to the encode_structured_data method
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/24/2022
The CVE-2022-1930 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the eth-account PyPI package that exposes applications to exponential Regular Expression Denial of Service attacks. This vulnerability specifically affects the encode_structured_data method which processes user-supplied input through regular expression patterns. The flaw stems from poorly constructed regular expressions that exhibit exponential backtracking behavior when processing maliciously crafted input patterns. When an attacker provides specially crafted input to this method, the regular expression engine enters into a computationally expensive state where it attempts to match the input against the vulnerable pattern through exponential time complexity, ultimately consuming excessive CPU resources and causing application slowdown or complete service unavailability. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-400 which categorizes improper input validation and specifically addresses regular expression vulnerabilities that can lead to denial of service conditions. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it allows remote unauthenticated attackers to exploit the vulnerability simply by supplying malicious input to the encode_structured_data method, making it a high-risk issue for any application that relies on this package for Ethereum account data processing.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly innocuous regular expression patterns can become dangerous when they contain nested quantifiers or alternations that create exponential backtracking scenarios. The eth-account package processes structured data that typically includes Ethereum account information, transaction details, and other blockchain-related data. When the encode_structured_data method receives input containing malicious regular expression patterns, the underlying Python regex engine begins to explore multiple matching paths exponentially, leading to resource exhaustion. This behavior aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which covers network denial of service attacks through resource exhaustion. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be triggered through various input vectors including API endpoints, configuration files, or user-supplied data that gets processed through this method. The exponential nature of the attack means that even relatively small malicious inputs can cause significant computational overhead, making it difficult to distinguish from legitimate high-volume processing scenarios.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-1930 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise entire application availability and system stability. Applications using the affected eth-account package become vulnerable to DoS attacks that can cause cascading failures in systems where Ethereum account processing is critical. The vulnerability affects systems that process external data feeds, user inputs, or blockchain transaction data where the encode_structured_data method is invoked. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to consume excessive computational resources, leading to denial of service conditions that may require system restarts or manual intervention to restore normal operations. Organizations using this package in production environments face significant risk as the vulnerability can be exploited by automated scanning tools or malicious actors seeking to disrupt services. The impact is particularly severe in cloud environments or containerized applications where resource limits are enforced, as the exponential resource consumption can trigger automatic scaling failures or resource allocation limits.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-1930 should focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary fix involves updating to a patched version of the eth-account package that addresses the vulnerable regular expression patterns by either simplifying the patterns to prevent backtracking or implementing proper input validation and sanitization. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting and input validation at the application level to prevent malicious input from reaching the vulnerable method. The solution should include monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual resource consumption patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, implementing proper security scanning in CI/CD pipelines can help identify vulnerable dependencies before they are deployed to production environments. Organizations should also consider implementing input sanitization libraries or custom validation logic that can detect and reject potentially malicious regular expression patterns before they reach the vulnerable code paths. Security teams should review their incident response procedures to ensure they can quickly identify and respond to exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability while maintaining compliance with industry standards such as NIST SP 800-30 for risk assessment and mitigation planning.