Dulwich has unbounded memory allocation in receive-pack from crafted thin packs
Dulwich is a pure-Python implementation of the Git file formats and protocols. Starting in version 0.1.0 and prior to version 1.2.5, a client with push access could push a tiny crafted thin pack (~174 bytes) whose delta header declares a huge dest_size. When dulwich ingested it via add_thin_pack / apply_delta, it would allocate hundreds of MB of memory based on that attacker-controlled size, with no relationship to the actual bytes received. Operators running a Dulwich-based Git server that exposes git-receive-pack (i.e. accepts pushes) - for example via dulwich.server functionality, the HTTP smart server, or anything built on ReceivePackHandler - are impacted. The issue is patched in 1.2.5. add_thin_pack now accepts a max_input_size keyword (bytes; 0/None = unlimited, matching git's semantics), and ReceivePackHandler reads receive.maxInputSize from the repository config and passes it through. Wire reads are counted and a PackInputTooLarge exception is raised once the cap is exceeded - equivalent to git index-pack --max-input-size. Users should upgrade to Dulwich 1.2.5 or later and set receive.maxInputSize in their server's repository config to a sane bound for their environment. On unpatched versions, receive.maxInputSize has no effect, so it cannot be used as a workaround. Until upgrading, operators should restrict dulwich-receive-pack (push) access to trusted, authenticated clients only, or disable it entirely on servers that only need to serve fetches and/or run the server under an OS-level memory limit (e.g. ulimit, cgroups/MemoryMax, or a container memory limit) so a malicious push is killed rather than taking down the host.
Problem Types
| Type | CWE ID | Description |
|---|
| CWE | CWE-400 | CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption |
| CWE | CWE-789 | CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value |
Type: CWE
Description: CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Type: CWE
Description: CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value
Metrics
| Version | Base score | Base severity | Vector |
|---|
| 3.1 | 5.7 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
Version: 3.1
Base score: 5.7
Base severity: MEDIUM
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H