CVE-2018-5711 - Incorrect Conversion between Numeric Types

Severity

43%

Complexity

86%

Confidentiality

48%

gd_gif_in.c in the GD Graphics Library (aka libgd), as used in PHP before 5.6.33, 7.0.x before 7.0.27, 7.1.x before 7.1.13, and 7.2.x before 7.2.1, has an integer signedness error that leads to an infinite loop via a crafted GIF file, as demonstrated by a call to the imagecreatefromgif or imagecreatefromstring PHP function. This is related to GetCode_ and gdImageCreateFromGifCtx.

gd_gif_in.c in the GD Graphics Library (aka libgd), as used in PHP before 5.6.33, 7.0.x before 7.0.27, 7.1.x before 7.1.13, and 7.2.x before 7.2.1, has an integer signedness error that leads to an infinite loop via a crafted GIF file, as demonstrated by a call to the imagecreatefromgif or imagecreatefromstring PHP function. This is related to GetCode_ and gdImageCreateFromGifCtx.

CVSS 3.0 Base Score 5.5. CVSS Attack Vector: local. CVSS Attack Complexity: low. CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

CVSS 2.0 Base Score 4.3. CVSS Attack Vector: network. CVSS Attack Complexity: medium. CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P).

Demo Examples

Incorrect Conversion between Numeric Types

CWE-681

In the following Java example, a float literal is cast to an integer, thus causing a loss of precision.


               
int i = (int) 33457.8f;

Incorrect Conversion between Numeric Types

CWE-681

This code adds a float and an integer together, casting the result to an integer.


               
$result = (int)$floatVal + $intVal;

Normally, PHP will preserve the precision of this operation, making $result = 4.8345. After the cast to int, it is reasonable to expect PHP to follow rounding convention and set $result = 5. However, the explicit cast to int always rounds DOWN, so the final value of $result is 4. This behavior may have unintended consequences.

Incorrect Conversion between Numeric Types

CWE-681

In this example the variable amount can hold a negative value when it is returned. Because the function is declared to return an unsigned int, amount will be implicitly converted to unsigned.


               
}
return amount;

If the error condition in the code above is met, then the return value of readdata() will be 4,294,967,295 on a system that uses 32-bit integers.

Incorrect Conversion between Numeric Types

CWE-681

In this example, depending on the return value of accecssmainframe(), the variable amount can hold a negative value when it is returned. Because the function is declared to return an unsigned value, amount will be implicitly cast to an unsigned number.


               
}
return amount;

If the return value of accessmainframe() is -1, then the return value of readdata() will be 4,294,967,295 on a system that uses 32-bit integers.

Demo Examples

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CWE-835

In the following code the method processMessagesFromServer attempts to establish a connection to a server and read and process messages from the server. The method uses a do/while loop to continue trying to establish the connection to the server when an attempt fails.


               
}
...// create socket to connect to server
}// establish connection to server// if connected then read and process messages from server
...// read and process messages
// keep trying to establish connection to the server// close socket and return success or failure

However, this will create an infinite loop if the server does not respond. This infinite loop will consume system resources and can be used to create a denial of service attack. To resolve this a counter should be used to limit the number of attempts to establish a connection to the server, as in the following code.


               
}
...// initialize number of attempts counter
}// establish connection to server// increment counter// if connected then read and process messages from server
...// read and process messages
// keep trying to establish connection to the server// up to a maximum number of attempts// close socket and return success or failure

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CWE-835

For this example the method isReorderNeeded as part of a bookstore application that determines if a particular book needs to be reordered based on the current inventory count and the rate at which the book is being sold.


               
}
return isReorder;// get inventory count for book// find number of days until inventory count reaches minimum
days++;
// if number of days within reorder timeframe// set reorder return boolean to true
isReorder = true;

However, the while loop will become an infinite loop if the rateSold input parameter has a value of zero since the inventoryCount will never fall below the minimumCount. In this case the input parameter should be validated to ensure that a value of zero does not cause an infinite loop,as in the following code.


               
}
...// validate rateSold variable
return isReorder;

Overview

First reported 7 years ago

2018-01-16 09:29:00

Last updated 5 years ago

2019-10-03 00:03:00

Affected Software

PHP PHP

PHP 7.2.0

7.2.0

Debian Linux 7.0

7.0

Debian Linux 8.0 (Jessie)

8.0

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS (Long-Term Support)

14.04

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS (Long-Term Support)

16.04

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 18.04 LTS Edition

18.04

Stay updated

ExploitPedia is constantly evolving. Sign up to receive a notification when we release additional functionality.

Get in touch

If you'd like to report a bug or have any suggestions for improvements then please do get in touch with us using this form. We will get back to you as soon as we can.