CVE-2024-32871 in Pimcore
Summary
by MITRE • 06/04/2024
Pimcore is an Open Source Data & Experience Management Platform. The Pimcore thumbnail generation can be used to flood the server with large files. By changing the file extension or scaling factor of the requested thumbnail, attackers can create files that are much larger in file size than the original. This vulnerability is fixed in 11.2.4.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-32871 affects Pimcore, an open source data and experience management platform that serves as a comprehensive content management and digital asset management solution. This platform is widely used by enterprises for managing digital content, product information, and customer experience data. The vulnerability specifically resides within the thumbnail generation functionality that allows users to create scaled-down versions of images for web display. The issue represents a significant security concern as it enables attackers to exploit the thumbnail generation system to consume excessive server resources through what is known as a resource exhaustion attack.
The technical flaw manifests when attackers manipulate the thumbnail generation parameters, particularly by altering file extensions or modifying scaling factors during thumbnail requests. This manipulation allows malicious actors to generate thumbnail files that are exponentially larger than the original source images. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and size limitation controls within the thumbnail processing pipeline. When the system processes these malformed requests, it fails to properly constrain the output file sizes, enabling attackers to create massive files that can quickly consume available disk space and processing power. This behavior aligns with CWE-400, which describes improper restriction of operations within a limited error handling scope, and represents a form of denial of service through resource exhaustion.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire system availability and stability. Attackers can flood server storage with large thumbnail files, leading to disk space exhaustion that can cause the entire Pimcore platform to become unavailable. Additionally, the excessive processing required to generate these oversized thumbnails can overwhelm system CPU resources and memory, resulting in performance degradation or complete system crashes. This vulnerability particularly affects web applications that rely heavily on image processing and digital asset management, where thumbnail generation is frequently used for product catalogs, media libraries, and content management systems. The attack vector is relatively simple to execute and can be automated, making it a particularly dangerous threat that can be exploited by both malicious actors and automated bots.
The fix for this vulnerability was implemented in Pimcore version 11.2.4, which introduced enhanced input validation and size limitation controls for thumbnail generation requests. Organizations should immediately update to this patched version to protect their systems from exploitation. Additional mitigations include implementing rate limiting on thumbnail generation requests, configuring disk space quotas to prevent complete exhaustion, and monitoring system resources for unusual patterns of file growth. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls with rules specifically designed to detect and block malformed thumbnail requests, and establish automated alerting mechanisms for unusual disk usage patterns. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in image processing systems and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers resource exhaustion attacks through manipulation of application functionality. Organizations using Pimcore should conduct thorough security assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and ensure that their monitoring systems are capable of detecting this specific attack pattern.