CVE-2023-22890 in Zephyr Enterprise
Summary
by MITRE • 03/08/2023
SmartBear Zephyr Enterprise through 7.15.0 allows unauthenticated users to upload large files, which could exhaust the local drive space, causing a denial of service condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/03/2025
SmartBear Zephyr Enterprise version 7.15.0 and earlier contains a critical vulnerability that enables unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrarily large files to the system, potentially leading to local storage exhaustion and subsequent denial of service conditions. This vulnerability exists due to insufficient validation of file upload operations, allowing any remote user to bypass authentication requirements and flood the system with large data payloads. The flaw represents a classic denial of service attack vector where an attacker can consume available disk space to the point where legitimate operations become impossible. The vulnerability impacts the core file upload functionality of the application, which is typically used for test case attachments, documentation, and other supporting materials within the testing environment. According to CWE-434, this corresponds to an insecure upload of file with dangerous type, where the application fails to properly validate file size, type, and destination storage capacity. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it requires no authentication credentials, making it accessible to any external party with network access to the affected system. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability could be exploited to render the entire Zephyr Enterprise instance unusable by consuming all available disk space on the host system. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as it could affect database integrity, application performance, and potentially compromise other services running on the same host. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to perform persistent denial of service attacks by repeatedly uploading large files until the system becomes unresponsive. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 which describes network denial of service attacks and T1566.002 which covers spearphishing attachments, as the file upload functionality could be abused to deliver malicious payloads or simply consume resources. Organizations using Zephyr Enterprise in production environments face significant risk from this vulnerability, particularly those with limited storage capacity or automated backup systems that could be overwhelmed. The lack of authentication requirements means that even systems behind firewalls or with basic network segmentation could be vulnerable to exploitation. This weakness demonstrates poor input validation and inadequate resource management within the application's file handling subsystem, creating a fundamental security flaw that could be exploited for various attack purposes. The vulnerability affects the application's ability to maintain proper resource allocation and could potentially lead to cascading failures if the affected system hosts other critical services. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including rate limiting for file uploads, size restrictions, and authentication enforcement for upload endpoints to prevent unauthorized file ingestion.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to enforce proper access controls and file size limitations during the upload process. The system does not validate whether the requesting user has proper authorization to perform file uploads or monitor the size of files being submitted. This creates a pathway for malicious actors to consume unlimited storage space, effectively creating a resource exhaustion attack vector. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the application layer, where attackers can directly manipulate file upload parameters without requiring legitimate credentials or elevated privileges. From a security architecture standpoint, this represents a failure in the principle of least privilege, where the system grants unrestricted file upload capabilities to all users, authenticated or not. The absence of proper file size validation means that attackers can upload files ranging from hundreds of megabytes to gigabytes, depending on the available disk space. This flaw also indicates inadequate monitoring and alerting mechanisms for unusual file upload patterns or storage consumption rates. The vulnerability could be exploited through various means including automated scripts that repeatedly upload large files, or by directly manipulating web forms and API endpoints to submit oversized files. The impact on system performance is immediate and severe, as storage space is consumed rapidly, potentially causing the application to become unresponsive or crash entirely. This type of vulnerability is classified under CWE-399 which covers resource management errors, specifically highlighting the failure to properly manage system resources such as disk space. The attack pattern aligns with common exploitation techniques used in modern cyber attacks where resource exhaustion is employed as a primary method of system disruption. Organizations should consider implementing comprehensive file upload policies that include size limits, content type validation, and proper access controls to prevent this type of attack from succeeding.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should address both immediate operational concerns and long-term architectural improvements to prevent similar issues. The most effective immediate solution involves implementing strict file size limits for all upload operations, combined with mandatory authentication checks for upload endpoints. Organizations should deploy rate limiting mechanisms that prevent excessive file upload attempts from any single IP address or session. Network segmentation and firewall rules can be configured to restrict access to upload endpoints to only trusted internal systems. The application should be updated to enforce proper authentication for all file upload operations, ensuring that only authorized users can submit files to the system. Additionally, monitoring and alerting systems should be implemented to track storage consumption patterns and flag unusual upload activity that could indicate exploitation attempts. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability impacts several security standards including pci dss requirements for protecting cardholder data and iso 27001 controls for information security management. The vulnerability demonstrates the need for regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify similar flaws in application functionality. Organizations should also consider implementing automated backup and recovery procedures that can quickly restore system functionality if storage exhaustion occurs. The fix should include proper error handling for oversized file uploads, ensuring that the system gracefully rejects large files rather than accepting them and consuming storage resources. Implementing a centralized logging system for all file upload activities will help in forensic analysis and incident response when such attacks occur. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of secure coding practices and regular code reviews to prevent similar issues in other application components. Proper input validation and output encoding should be enforced throughout the application to prevent various injection and resource exhaustion attacks. Organizations should establish clear policies for managing file storage capacity and implement automated cleanup procedures to prevent long-term storage accumulation that could exacerbate the impact of such attacks.