CVE-2024-21539 in plugin-kit
Summary
by MITRE • 11/19/2024
Versions of the package @eslint/plugin-kit before 0.2.3 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) due to improper input sanitization. An attacker can increase the CPU usage and crash the program by exploiting this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/19/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-21539 affects the @eslint/plugin-kit package versions prior to 0.2.3 and represents a critical Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) flaw that can severely impact system availability and performance. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization mechanisms within the package's regular expression processing logic, creating an exploitable condition where maliciously crafted input can cause excessive computational overhead. The issue manifests when the package processes user-provided data through vulnerable regular expressions that are susceptible to catastrophic backtracking patterns, leading to exponential execution time increases that can ultimately result in system resource exhaustion and program termination.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the package's handling of input validation and pattern matching operations where regular expressions are employed to process configuration data, plugin definitions, or user inputs. When an attacker submits specially crafted input strings that match the vulnerable regex patterns, the regular expression engine enters into a state of catastrophic backtracking where it repeatedly evaluates the same input positions multiple times. This behavior is characteristic of ReDoS vulnerabilities and typically occurs when regex patterns contain nested quantifiers with overlapping matching possibilities. The CWE-1321 classification applies here as this represents a specific instance of improper input validation leading to resource exhaustion through regex processing.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to development environments and CI/CD pipelines that rely on ESLint plugin functionality, as attackers can exploit this weakness to cause service disruption or denial of service conditions. The impact extends beyond simple performance degradation to potentially compromising the availability of development tools and automated build processes. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by crafting malicious input files or configuration parameters that when processed by the affected package trigger the resource exhaustion condition. The attack vector is particularly concerning in environments where automated code analysis tools are continuously running or where the package is integrated into systems that process untrusted input from multiple sources.
The remediation approach for CVE-2024-21539 requires immediate upgrading of the @eslint/plugin-kit package to version 0.2.3 or later, which includes fixed regular expression patterns that eliminate the vulnerability. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all systems utilizing affected versions and implement proper input validation measures. Additionally, implementing rate limiting and resource monitoring for regex processing operations can serve as defensive measures against similar vulnerabilities. The ATT&CK framework's T1496 technique of resource exhaustion through malformed input processing is directly applicable to this vulnerability, highlighting the importance of input validation and robust error handling in preventing such attacks. Security teams should also consider implementing automated dependency scanning tools that can detect and alert on vulnerable package versions to prevent exploitation in production environments.