Re: [SECURITY] DoS attack on backend possible (was: Re:

From: Justin Clift <justin(at)postgresql(dot)org>
To: Florian Weimer <Weimer(at)CERT(dot)Uni-Stuttgart(dot)DE>
Cc: pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] DoS attack on backend possible (was: Re:
Date: 2002-08-11 16:26:56
Message-ID: 3D569050.87E7A4CA@postgresql.org
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Hi Florian,

Am I understanding this right:

- A PostgreSQL 7.2.1 server can be crashed if it gets passed certain
date values which would be accepted by standard "front end" parsing?
So, a web application layer can request a date from a user, do standard
integrity checks (like looking for weird characters and formatting
hacks) on the date given, then use the date as part of a SQL query, and
PostgreSQL will die?

?

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

Florian Weimer wrote:
>
> Justin Clift <justin(at)postgresql(dot)org> writes:
>
> > Is it possible to crash a 7.2.1 backend without having an entry in the
> > pg_hba.conf file?
>
> No, but think of web applications and things like that. The web
> frontend might pass in a date string which crashes the server backend.
> Since the crash can be triggered by mere data, an attacker does not
> have to be able to send specific SQL statements to the server.
>
> --
> Florian Weimer Weimer(at)CERT(dot)Uni-Stuttgart(dot)DE
> University of Stuttgart http://CERT.Uni-Stuttgart.DE/people/fw/
> RUS-CERT fax +49-711-685-5898

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