CVE-2022-41952
Published: 22 November 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-41952 is a medium-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Matrix Synapse. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 31.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-1616
Vulnerability details
Synapse before 1.52.0 with URL preview functionality enabled will attempt to generate URL previews for media stream URLs without properly limiting connection time. Connections will only be terminated after `max_spider_size` (default: 10M) bytes have been downloaded, which can in some…
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cases lead to long-lived connections towards the streaming media server (for instance, Icecast). This can cause excessive traffic and connections toward such servers if their stream URL is, for example, posted to a large room with many Synapse instances with URL preview enabled. Version 1.52.0 implements a timeout mechanism which will terminate URL preview connections after 30 seconds. Since generating URL previews for media streams is not supported and always fails, 1.53.0 additionally implements an allow list for content types for which Synapse will even attempt to generate a URL preview. Upgrade to 1.53.0 to fully resolve the issue. As a workaround, turn off URL preview functionality by setting `url_preview_enabled: false` in the Synapse configuration file.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Terminating idle connections bounds resource consumption that would otherwise allow uncontrolled accumulation of open sessions.
Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.
Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.
Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.
Updated contingency plans include current procedures to detect, contain, and recover from resource exhaustion, limiting an attacker's ability to sustain impact from uncontrolled consumption.
Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.
Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.
The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.