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Inadequate file size control

Description

The system does not perform an adequate control of the size of the files that can be uploaded to the server.

Impact

  • Consume server resources and storage to upload large files.
  • Lead to denial of service attacks if the server storage capacity is overloaded.

Recommendation

Implement controls to limit the maximum file size that can be uploaded to the server.

Threat

Authenticated attacker on the Internet.

Expected Remediation Time

⌚ 30 minutes.

Score

Default score using CVSS 3.1. It may change depending on the context of the vulnerability.

Base

  • Attack vector: N
  • Attack complexity: L
  • Privileges required: L
  • User interaction: N
  • Scope: U
  • Confidentiality: N
  • Integrity: N
  • Availability: H

Temporal

  • Exploit code madurity: P
  • Remediation level: O
  • Report confidence: C

Result

  • Vector string: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C
  • Score:
    • Base: 6.5
    • Temporal: 5.9
  • Severity:
    • Base: Medium
    • Temporal: Medium

Code Examples

Compliant code

The file size is set to a strict limit based on business needs

var storage = multer.diskStorage({
destination: function (req, file, cb) {
cb(null, "uploads")
},
filename: function (req, file, cb) {
cb(null, file.fieldname + "-" + Date.now()+".jpg")
}
})

// Define the maximum size for uploading
// picture i.e. 1 MB. it is optional
const maxSize = 1 * 1000 * 1000;

var upload = multer({
storage: storage,
limits: { fileSize: maxSize },
fileFilter: function (req, file, cb){
var filetypes = /jpeg|jpg|png/;
var mimetype = filetypes.test(file.mimetype);
var extname = filetypes.test(path.extname(file.originalname).toLowerCase());
}).single("mypic");

Non compliant code

There is no server side validation of file size before uploading it to the server

var storage = multer.diskStorage({
destination: function (req, file, cb) {
cb(null, "uploads")
},
filename: function (req, file, cb) {
cb(null, file.fieldname + "-" + Date.now()+".jpg")
}
})

var upload = multer({
storage: storage,
fileFilter: function (req, file, cb){
var filetypes = /jpeg|jpg|png/;
var mimetype = filetypes.test(file.mimetype);
var extname = filetypes.test(path.extname(file.originalname).toLowerCase());
}).single("mypic");

Requirements

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