CVE-2023-45847 in Mattermost
Summary
by MITRE • 12/12/2023
Mattermost fails to to check the length when setting the title in a run checklist in Playbooks, allowing an attacker to send a specially crafted request and crash the Playbooks plugin
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/02/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-45847 affects the Mattermost collaborative platform, specifically within its Playbooks plugin functionality. This issue represents a classic buffer overflow condition that occurs when the system fails to validate input length parameters during checklist title manipulation. The flaw exists in the plugin's handling of user-provided data, where the application does not enforce appropriate bounds checking on the title field when creating or modifying run checklists. This omission creates a potential denial of service scenario that could be exploited by malicious actors to disrupt normal operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the Playbooks plugin's backend processing. When users attempt to set or modify checklist titles, the system should enforce length restrictions to prevent memory corruption issues. However, the current implementation lacks proper bounds checking, allowing attackers to submit arbitrarily long title strings that exceed the allocated memory buffer space. This condition falls under the CWE-122 vulnerability category, which specifically addresses buffer overflow conditions in heap-based memory management scenarios. The vulnerability manifests as a crash in the Playbooks plugin component, effectively rendering the affected functionality unavailable to legitimate users while potentially creating instability within the broader Mattermost application ecosystem.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations relying on Mattermost for collaborative workflows and process automation through Playbooks. The denial of service impact means that authorized users cannot perform critical checklist operations, potentially disrupting business processes, incident response procedures, or project management activities. The attack vector requires only the ability to send specially crafted HTTP requests to the Mattermost API endpoints, making exploitation relatively straightforward for attackers with minimal privileges. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a critical weakness in the application's input sanitization and memory management practices. Organizations utilizing Mattermost in production environments face potential operational disruptions, decreased productivity, and increased risk of extended service outages.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves implementing proper input validation and bounds checking mechanisms within the Playbooks plugin to enforce maximum length limits on checklist title fields. System administrators should apply the vendor-provided security patches immediately upon release to address this vulnerability. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network-level protections such as rate limiting and API request validation to prevent abuse of this vulnerability. The implementation should follow secure coding practices that align with OWASP Top Ten security guidelines, specifically focusing on input validation and error handling. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the Mattermost platform, ensuring comprehensive protection against similar buffer overflow conditions that could compromise system stability and availability.