CVE-2024-9229 in quivr
Summary
by MITRE • 03/20/2025
A Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability in the file upload feature of stangirard/quivr v0.0.298 allows unauthenticated attackers to cause excessive resource consumption by appending characters to the end of a multipart boundary in an HTTP request. This leads to the server continuously processing each character, rendering the service unavailable and impacting all users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-9229 represents a critical denial of service weakness in the quivr application version 0.0.298, specifically targeting the file upload functionality. This flaw resides within the multipart boundary handling mechanism of HTTP requests, where the application fails to properly validate or limit the length of boundary delimiters. The issue manifests when attackers append excessive characters to multipart boundaries in upload requests, causing the server to process each character individually rather than recognizing the boundary as a complete delimiter. This processing behavior creates a resource exhaustion condition that can be exploited without any authentication requirements, making it particularly dangerous for publicly accessible services.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and boundary parsing logic within the file upload handler. When a multipart request is received, the application attempts to parse the boundary parameter by iterating through each character to locate the boundary delimiter. However, the current implementation does not enforce reasonable limits on boundary length or implement proper boundary termination detection. This allows attackers to craft malicious requests where the boundary string extends far beyond normal parameters, causing the server to consume excessive cpu cycles and memory resources as it continuously processes each appended character. The flaw operates at the protocol parsing level, affecting the core HTTP request handling mechanism rather than application logic, which makes it particularly difficult to mitigate through traditional application-level defenses.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-9229 extends beyond simple service disruption to create a comprehensive availability compromise that affects all users of the vulnerable quivr instance. Attackers can maintain sustained resource exhaustion by sending multiple malformed requests, effectively creating a persistent denial of service condition that can render the entire application unusable. The vulnerability's unauthenticated nature means that any external party can exploit it without requiring credentials, making it particularly attractive for malicious actors seeking to disrupt services. Additionally, the resource consumption pattern creates a cascading effect where the server's processing capacity becomes saturated, potentially affecting legitimate user requests and causing additional performance degradation. This vulnerability directly aligns with attack patterns described in the attack technique matrix under T1499.004 for network denial of service and represents a classic example of a resource exhaustion attack that can be classified under CWE-400 as Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-9229 should focus on implementing strict boundary validation and length limiting mechanisms within the HTTP request parsing layer. Organizations should enforce maximum boundary length restrictions, typically no more than 70 characters for standard multipart boundaries, and implement proper boundary termination detection to prevent character-by-character processing. The recommended approach involves modifying the multipart parser to include boundary length validation and early termination conditions that prevent infinite loops during boundary processing. Additionally, implementing rate limiting and request size limits can provide additional defense in depth measures that help prevent exploitation even if boundary validation is bypassed. Security teams should also consider implementing automated monitoring for unusual resource consumption patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts, as this vulnerability can be used both for sustained disruption and as part of broader attack campaigns targeting web applications. The fix should be implemented at the application layer where multipart request parsing occurs, ensuring that all boundary handling logic enforces reasonable constraints and terminates processing when boundary parameters exceed acceptable thresholds.