CVE-2024-6197 – CVE-2024-6197 is a memory corruption vulnerabil... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-6197?

CVE-2024-6197 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). CVE-2024-6197 is a memory corruption vulnerability in libcurl's ASN.1 parser where invalid UTF-8 strings trigger improper free() calls on stack memory. This can cause crashes or potentially more serious memory corruption. Any application using vulnerable libcurl versions is affected.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2024-6197 is a memory corruption vulnerability in libcurl's ASN.1 parser where invalid UTF-8 strings trigger improper free() calls on stack memory. This can cause crashes or potentially more serious memory corruption. Any application using vulnerable libcurl versions is affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

libcurl
curl
applications using libcurl

Versions: libcurl 7.12.0 through 8.8.0

Operating Systems: All platforms using affected libcurl versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects ASN.1 parsing functionality, not all curl usage scenarios

📦 What is this software?

Libcurl by Haxx

View all CVEs affecting Libcurl →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution or arbitrary memory corruption leading to system compromise

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash (denial of service)

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact with proper memory protection mechanisms

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Requires specific ASN.1 parsing scenarios

🏢 Internal Only: LOW - Limited attack surface internally

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: HIGH

Exploitation requires specific memory layout and ASN.1 parsing conditions

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: libcurl 8.9.0

Vendor Advisory: https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update libcurl to version 8.9.0 or later. 2. Rebuild applications using libcurl. 3. Restart affected services.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable ASN.1 parsing

all

Avoid using curl features that trigger ASN.1 parsing if possible

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement memory protection mechanisms like ASLR and stack canaries
Monitor for crashes in applications using libcurl and isolate affected systems

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check libcurl version with 'curl --version' or 'ldconfig -p | grep libcurl'

Check Version:

curl --version | head -1

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify libcurl version is 8.9.0 or higher

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Application crashes with memory corruption errors
Segmentation faults in curl/libcurl processes

Network Indicators:

Unexpected ASN.1 data sent to curl endpoints

SIEM Query:

source="application.logs" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "memory corruption") AND process="curl"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-6197

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Published: July 24, 2024

Last Updated: November 29, 2024

🔗 References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/24/1 Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/24/5 Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.html Vendor Advisory
https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.json Vendor Advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/2559516 Exploit,Issue Tracking,Technical Description
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/24/1 Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/24/5 Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.html Vendor Advisory
https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2024-6197.json Vendor Advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/2559516 Exploit,Issue Tracking,Technical Description
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20241129-0008/

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