Catastrophic Backtracking Vulnerabilities in python-django
Summary
DLA-1303-1: python-django - security update. Affects python-django versions < 1.4.22-1+deb7u4. Fixed in 1.4.22-1+deb7u4. How to fix ↓
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Background
python-django is a popular web framework for building web applications using the Python programming language. It provides a set of tools and libraries that simplify the development process. However, the package is vulnerable to catastrophic backtracking vulnerabilities in certain regular expressions, which can lead to slow evaluation and potential security issues.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2018-7536 and CVE-2018-7537, affects specific functions in python-django. The django.utils.html.urlize() function and django.utils.text.Truncator's chars() and words() methods are particularly susceptible. These functions can become extremely slow when evaluating certain inputs due to the presence of catastrophic backtracking vulnerabilities in the regular expressions they use. As a result, the urlize() function and the truncatechars_html and truncatewords_html template filters are also affected.
How To Fix
Minimum fixed version
1.4.22-1+deb7u4
This is the first release that contains the fix.
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade python-djangoTip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →
Workaround
There is no specific workaround mentioned for this vulnerability. The recommended solution is to upgrade the python-django package to the fixed version.
Conclusion
The python-django package is vulnerable to catastrophic backtracking vulnerabilities in certain regular expressions. Upgrading to the fixed version will address these vulnerabilities and ensure the proper functioning and security of web applications built using python-django. For further support on vulnerability remediation, you can contact DevNack.com.
See every vulnerability recorded for python-django →
FAQ
Python-django is a web framework for building web applications using the Python programming language. It provides a set of tools and libraries that simplify the development process.
Catastrophic backtracking is a performance issue that occurs in regular expressions when a pattern contains ambiguous constructs. It can cause the evaluation of certain inputs to become extremely slow and potentially lead to security vulnerabilities.
The django.utils.html.urlize() function and django.utils.text.Truncator's chars() and words() methods are affected by this vulnerability.
The slow evaluation caused by the vulnerability can lead to performance issues in web applications built using python-django. Additionally, it may provide an opportunity for attackers to exploit the slow evaluation and potentially launch denial-of-service attacks or other security exploits.
To fix this vulnerability, you should upgrade the python-django package to version 1.4.22-1+deb7u4 or later. This will ensure that the vulnerable functions and template filters are patched and no longer susceptible to the slow evaluation and potential security risks.
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