Security Bulletin: IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty is vulnerable to a denial of service due to Google protobuf-java (CVE-2022-3171, CVE-2022-3509)

Summary

There is a vulnerability in the Google protobuf-java library used by IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty with the grpc-1.0 or grpcClient-1.0 feature enabled. This has been addressed.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID:CVE-2022-3171
**DESCRIPTION:**protobuf-java core and lite are vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by a flaw in the parsing procedure for binary and text format data. By sending non-repeated embedded messages with repeated or unknown fields, a remote authenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause long garbage collection pauses.
CVSS Base score: 5.7
CVSS Temporal Score: See: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/238394 for the current score.
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

CVEID:CVE-2022-3509
**DESCRIPTION:**protobuf-java core and lite are vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by a flaw in the parsing procedure for textformat data. By sending non-repeated embedded messages with repeated or unknown fields, a remote authenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause long garbage collection pauses.
CVSS Base score: 5.7
CVSS Temporal Score: See: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/239915 for the current score.
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

Affected Products and Versions

Remediation/Fixes

IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now by applying a currently available interim fix or fix pack that contains the APAR PH50342. To determine if a feature is enabled for IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty, refer to How to determine if Liberty is using a specific feature.

For IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty 21.0.0.2 - 22.0.0.12 using the grpc-1.0 or grpcClient-1.0 feature(s):
· Upgrade to minimal fix pack levels as required by interim fix and then apply Interim Fix PH50342
--OR–
· Apply Liberty Fix Pack 22.0.0.13 or later (targeted availability 4Q2022).

Additional interim fixes may be available and linked off the interim fix download page.

Workarounds and Mitigations

None