CVE-2023-22458 in Redis
Summary
by MITRE • 01/20/2023
Redis is an in-memory database that persists on disk. Authenticated users can issue a `HRANDFIELD` or `ZRANDMEMBER` command with specially crafted arguments to trigger a denial-of-service by crashing Redis with an assertion failure. This problem affects Redis versions 6.2 or newer up to but not including 6.2.9 as well as versions 7.0 up to but not including 7.0.8. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/23/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-22458 represents a critical denial-of-service flaw within Redis database systems that impacts versions 6.2.0 through 6.2.8 and 7.0.0 through 7.0.7. This vulnerability specifically targets authenticated users who can exploit the HRANDFIELD and ZRANDMEMBER commands through carefully constructed arguments that trigger assertion failures leading to system crashes. The flaw demonstrates a classic buffer overflow condition where improper input validation allows malicious payloads to cause the Redis server to terminate unexpectedly, effectively rendering the database service unavailable to legitimate users.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability operates at the command processing level within Redis's core execution engine where the HRANDFIELD and ZRANDMEMBER commands handle random field and member selection operations respectively. The assertion failure occurs when these commands process malformed arguments that exceed expected parameter boundaries or contain unexpected data structures. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-121 which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, though the specific manifestation in Redis occurs through assertion mechanisms rather than direct memory corruption. The vulnerability requires authentication to exploit, meaning that unauthenticated attackers cannot directly trigger the crash, but authorized users with appropriate privileges can cause service disruption.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-22458 extends beyond simple service interruption to potentially compromise system availability and data integrity within applications relying on Redis as their primary data store. When Redis instances crash due to assertion failures, applications may experience cascading failures as dependent services lose access to critical data caches and session management systems. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where Redis serves as a foundational component for web applications, microservices architectures, and distributed systems where high availability is paramount. The lack of workarounds means that organizations must either upgrade their Redis installations or face potential service disruptions until patches are applied.
Security practitioners should recognize this vulnerability as part of the broader ATT&CK framework under the T1499 category for Network Denial of Service, where adversaries exploit weaknesses in system resources to prevent legitimate users from accessing services. The vulnerability's exploitation pattern aligns with privilege escalation techniques where authenticated users leverage their access rights to cause system instability, potentially serving as an initial foothold for more sophisticated attacks. Organizations implementing Redis in production environments should prioritize immediate patching of affected versions to prevent exploitation, as the vulnerability does not require complex attack vectors or specialized tools beyond legitimate administrative access. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of patched versions in staging environments to ensure compatibility with existing applications before deploying to production systems, considering that Redis serves as a critical infrastructure component for many enterprise applications and cloud-native deployments.