THREATPORT/VULNERABILITY/CVE-2022-21698
HIGH SEVERITY

CVE-2022-21698

Client Golang vulnerability

CVSS
7.5
EPSS
6.0%
EPSS pct
93th
Exploited
No known
client_golang is the instrumentation library for Go applications in Prometheus, and the promhttp package in client_golang provides tooling around HTTP servers and clients. In client_golang prior to version 1.11.1, HTTP server is susceptible to a Denial of Service through unbounded cardinality, and potential memory exhaustion, when handling requests with non-standard HTTP methods. In order to be affected, an instrumented software must use any of `promhttp.InstrumentHandler*` middleware except `RequestsInFlight`; not filter any specific methods (e.g GET) before middleware; pass metric with `method` label name to our middleware; and not have any firewall/LB/proxy that filters away requests with unknown `method`. client_golang version 1.11.1 contains a patch for this issue. Several workarounds are available, including removing the `method` label name from counter/gauge used in the InstrumentHandler; turning off affected promhttp handlers; adding custom middleware before promhttp handler that will sanitize the request method given by Go http.Request; and using a reverse proxy or web application firewall, configured to only allow a limited set of methods.
Affected vendor
Prometheus
Affected product
Client Golang
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness type (CWE)
  • CWE-400 — Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
  • CWE-770 — Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Published
2022-02-15

Risk analysis

Based on its CVSS vector, this vulnerability is exploitable over the network, low attack complexity, requiring no privileges, no user interaction. Successful exploitation leads to high impact to availability.

Its EPSS score of 6.0% reflects a lower probability of exploitation activity in the wild over the next 30 days, placing it above 93% of all scored CVEs.

Check your external exposure to CVE-2022-21698

  • Confirm whether Prometheus Client Golang is running on any internet-facing host or subdomain.
  • Match discovered service fingerprints against the version affected by CVE-2022-21698.
  • Prioritise remediation if the asset is public, business-critical, or near authentication/payment flows.

How ThreatPort helps with CVE-2022-21698

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