CVE-2024-46935
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Rocket.Chat allows attackers to cause denial of service by sending specially crafted messages containing specific characters. The message parser crashes when processing these messages, potentially taking down the entire workspace. All Rocket.Chat instances running affected versions are vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- Rocket.Chat
📦 What is this software?
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat by Rocket.chat
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete workspace unavailability requiring manual restart, potentially causing extended service disruption and data loss if messages aren't persisted.
Likely Case
Temporary service disruption affecting all users until the service is restarted, with potential message loss during the crash period.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper monitoring and rapid restart capabilities, though some service interruption may still occur.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending a message with specific characters. The exact characters are not publicly disclosed but could be reverse-engineered from the patch.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after the listed vulnerable versions (check Rocket.Chat security advisories for exact fixed versions)
Vendor Advisory: https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/rocketchat-security-fixes-updates-and-advisories
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check current Rocket.Chat version. 2. Update to latest patched version via package manager or Docker. 3. Restart Rocket.Chat service. 4. Verify the update was successful.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Message Content Filtering
allImplement input validation to block messages containing suspicious character patterns
Requires custom Rocket.Chat integration or proxy configuration
Rate Limiting
allImplement strict rate limiting on message sending to reduce DoS impact
Configure via Rocket.Chat settings or reverse proxy
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network-level protections to restrict access to Rocket.Chat to trusted users only
- Deploy monitoring with automated restart capabilities to minimize downtime if exploitation occurs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Rocket.Chat version against affected versions list. If running 6.12.0, 6.11.2, 6.10.5, 6.9.6, 6.8.6, 6.7.8 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
Check Rocket.Chat admin panel or run: docker inspect rocketchat/rocket.chat | grep -i versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Rocket.Chat version is updated beyond affected versions and service remains stable after sending various test messages.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected service crashes
- Message parser errors
- Increased error rates in application logs
Network Indicators:
- Sudden drop in service availability
- Increased failed message delivery attempts
SIEM Query:
source="rocketchat" AND ("crash" OR "parser error" OR "unhandled exception")