CVE-2021-42717
Severity CVSS v4.0:
Pending analysis
Type:
Unavailable / Other
Publication date:
07/12/2021
Last modified:
03/07/2025
Description
ModSecurity 3.x through 3.0.5 mishandles excessively nested JSON objects. Crafted JSON objects with nesting tens-of-thousands deep could result in the web server being unable to service legitimate requests. Even a moderately large (e.g., 300KB) HTTP request can occupy one of the limited NGINX worker processes for minutes and consume almost all of the available CPU on the machine. Modsecurity 2 is similarly vulnerable: the affected versions include 2.8.0 through 2.9.4.
Impact
Base Score 3.x
7.50
Severity 3.x
HIGH
Base Score 2.0
5.00
Severity 2.0
MEDIUM
Vulnerable products and versions
| CPE | From | Up to |
|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:owasp:modsecurity:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.0.0 (including) | 3.0.6 (excluding) |
| cpe:2.3:a:trustwave:modsecurity:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.0.0 (including) | 2.9.5 (excluding) |
| cpe:2.3:a:f5:nginx_modsecurity_waf:r24:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:f5:nginx_modsecurity_waf:r25:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:oracle:http_server:12.2.1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:oracle:http_server:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:oracle:zfs_storage_appliance_kit:8.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
To consult the complete list of CPE names with products and versions, see this page
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/05/msg00042.html
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5023
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/modsecurity-dos-vulnerability-in-json-parsing-cve-2021-42717/
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/05/msg00042.html
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5023
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/modsecurity-dos-vulnerability-in-json-parsing-cve-2021-42717/



