CVE-2025-0189 in aim
Summary
by MITRE • 03/20/2025
In version 3.25.0 of aimhubio/aim, the tracking server is vulnerable to a denial of service attack. The server overrides the maximum size for websocket messages, allowing very large images to be tracked. This causes the server to become unresponsive to other requests while processing the large image, leading to a denial of service condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-0189 affects aimhubio/aim version 3.25.0 and represents a critical denial of service weakness within the tracking server component. This issue stems from improper handling of websocket message sizes, creating an exploitable condition that can disrupt normal server operations. The vulnerability specifically targets the server's configuration where maximum websocket message size limits are overridden, allowing malicious actors to submit exceptionally large image files through the tracking interface.
The technical flaw manifests through the server's failure to enforce proper message size boundaries for websocket communications. When large images are transmitted, the tracking server processes these oversized messages without adequate resource management or size validation, causing significant system resource consumption. This behavior creates a resource exhaustion scenario where the server becomes unresponsive to legitimate requests while attempting to process the oversized data payloads. The override mechanism for maximum message sizes effectively removes protective barriers that would normally prevent such resource-intensive operations.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe threat to system availability and service integrity. Attackers can exploit this weakness by uploading images that exceed normal processing capacity, causing the server to consume excessive memory and CPU resources. The resulting denial of service condition prevents legitimate users from accessing tracking services while the server struggles to process the maliciously large image files. This impact extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially affecting all concurrent operations that depend on the tracking server's responsiveness.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which addresses unchecked resource consumption, and presents characteristics consistent with resource exhaustion attacks. From an attack framework perspective, this weakness maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, specifically targeting availability through resource consumption. Organizations implementing aimhubio/aim must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability, as it can be exploited without requiring authentication or specialized privileges, making it particularly dangerous in environments where the tracking server is exposed to untrusted users or external networks.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing strict websocket message size limits that cannot be overridden by client requests. System administrators should configure the tracking server to enforce maximum message size boundaries that prevent oversized data processing while maintaining operational functionality for legitimate use cases. Additional protective measures include implementing rate limiting for image uploads, establishing memory monitoring thresholds, and deploying automated resource management protocols that can detect and terminate resource-intensive processes. Regular security assessments should verify that message size configurations remain properly enforced and that no unauthorized overrides have been implemented.