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Critical Memory Corruption Vulnerability in Fluent Bit: Details, Risks, and Recommendations

A severe memory corruption vulnerability has been discovered in Fluent Bit, a widely used cloud logging utility across major cloud platforms. This open-source tool collects, processes, and forwards logs and other application data. With over 3 billion downloads as of 2022 and an additional 10 million deployments each day, Fluent Bit is heavily utilized by major organizations such as VMware, Cisco, Adobe, Walmart, and LinkedIn, as well as nearly every major cloud service provider, including AWS, Microsoft, and Google Cloud.

The issue, dubbed “Linguistic Lumberjack,” arises from the way Fluent Bit’s embedded HTTP server parses trace requests. If exploited, it can cause denial of service (DoS), data leakage, or remote code execution (RCE) in a cloud environment.


Discovery and Impact

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-4323, was introduced in version 2.0.7 and persists through version 3.0.3. Tenable researchers discovered this flaw while investigating a separate security issue in an undisclosed cloud service. They realized they could access various internal metrics and logging endpoints of the cloud service provider (CSP), including instances of Fluent Bit. This cross-tenant data leakage revealed the broader issue within Fluent Bit’s monitoring API.

Fluent Bit’s API is designed to allow users to query and monitor internal data, such as service uptime, plugin metrics, and health checks. The /api/v1/traces endpoint, in particular, was found to be vulnerable to memory corruption when non-string values, like integers, were passed as input names. This could result in various issues, including crashes, heap overwrites, and information leaks.


Mitigations and Recommendations

The bug has been fixed in the main source branch on GitHub as of May 15, 2024, with the patch expected in the release of version 3.0.4. Organizations using Fluent Bit in their infrastructure are advised to update to the latest version as soon as possible. If upgrading is not feasible, it’s recommended to review configurations related to Fluent Bit’s monitoring API to ensure only authorized users and services can query it, or to disable the endpoint altogether if not in use.


Technical Details

Fluent Bit’s monitoring API endpoints allow administrators to query internal service information. The vulnerability in the /api/v1/traces endpoint occurs when data types of input names are not validated, assuming they are valid MSGPACK_OBJECT_STRs. Passing non-string values causes memory corruption issues, leading to crashes and data leaks. Specific integer values can cause various memory corruption issues, such as heap buffer overflows and stack corruption.

In testing, Tenable researchers could reliably exploit this vulnerability to crash the service and retrieve adjacent memory chunks, potentially leaking sensitive information. Although achieving RCE would require significant effort and customization to the target environment, the ease of causing DoS and information leaks makes this vulnerability particularly concerning.


Conclusion

Organizations relying on Fluent Bit, whether in their own infrastructure or via cloud services, should prioritize updating to the latest version to mitigate this critical vulnerability. Ensuring robust security measures, such as regular updates and limiting access to monitoring APIs, is essential to protect against potential exploitation.


How Can Netizen Help?

Netizen ensures that security gets built-in and not bolted-on. Providing advanced solutions to protect critical IT infrastructure such as the popular “CISO-as-a-Service” wherein companies can leverage the expertise of executive-level cybersecurity professionals without having to bear the cost of employing them full time. 

We also offer compliance support, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and more security-related services for businesses of any size and type. 

Additionally, Netizen offers an automated and affordable assessment tool that continuously scans systems, websites, applications, and networks to uncover issues. Vulnerability data is then securely analyzed and presented through an easy-to-interpret dashboard to yield actionable risk and compliance information for audiences ranging from IT professionals to executive managers.

Netizen is an ISO 27001:2013 (Information Security Management), ISO 9001:2015, and CMMI V 2.0 Level 3 certified company. We are a proud Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor for hiring and retention of military veterans. 

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