An allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 based on the "chained" HTTP compression algorithms, meaning that a server response can be compressed multiple times and potentially with differentalgorithms. The number of acceptable "links" in this "decompression chain" wascapped, but the cap was implemented on a per-header basis allowing a maliciousserver to insert a virtually unlimited number of compression steps simply byusing many headers. The use of such a decompression chain could result in a "malloc bomb", making curl end up spending enormous amounts of allocated heap memory, or trying to and returning out of memory errors.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.5, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 13 products from haxx, from fedoraproject, from debian and 10 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2023, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2023-02-23T20:15:13.777
2025-03-12T19:15:36.367
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 6.5 (MEDIUM)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | haxx | curl | < 7.88.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | fedoraproject | fedora | 36 | Yes |
| Operating System | debian | debian_linux | 10.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | debian | debian_linux | 11.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | netapp | h300s_firmware | - | Yes |
| Hardware | netapp | h300s | - | No |
| Operating System | netapp | h500s_firmware | - | Yes |
| Hardware | netapp | h500s | - | No |
| Operating System | netapp | h700s_firmware | - | Yes |
| Hardware | netapp | h700s | - | No |
| Operating System | netapp | h410s_firmware | - | Yes |
| Hardware | netapp | h410s | - | No |
| Application | netapp | clustered_data_ontap | - | Yes |
| Application | splunk | universal_forwarder | < 8.2.12 | Yes |
| Application | splunk | universal_forwarder | < 9.0.6 | Yes |
| Application | splunk | universal_forwarder | 9.1.0 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For haxx's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.