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CVE-2021-32677

FastAPI <0.65.2 CSRF via JSON in non-JSON Content-Type

  • CVSS 8.1
  • CWE-352 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
  • Input Validation and Sanitization
  • Remote

FastAPI is a web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints. FastAPI versions lower than 0.65.2 that used cookies for authentication in path operations that received JSON payloads sent by browsers were vulnerable to a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attack. In versions lower than 0.65.2, FastAPI would try to read the request payload as JSON even if the content-type header sent was not set to application/json or a compatible JSON media type (e.g. application/geo+json). A request with a content type of text/plain containing JSON data would be accepted and the JSON data would be extracted. Requests with content type text/plain are exempt from CORS preflights, for being considered Simple requests. The browser will execute them right away including cookies, and the text content could be a JSON string that would be parsed and accepted by the FastAPI application. This is fixed in FastAPI 0.65.2. The request data is now parsed as JSON only if the content-type header is application/json or another JSON compatible media type like application/geo+json. It's best to upgrade to the latest FastAPI, but if updating is not possible then a middleware or a dependency that checks the content-type header and aborts the request if it is not application/json or another JSON compatible content type can act as a mitigating workaround.

CVSS base score
8.1
Published
2021-06-09
OWASP
A10 Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
Orthogonal defect classification
Function
Code defect classification
Incorrect Functionality
Category
Input Validation and Sanitization
Subcategory
Insecure Parsing or Deserialization
Accessibility scope
Remote
Impact
Unauthorized Access
Fixed by upgrading
Yes

Solution

Update to FastAPI version 0.65.2 or higher.

Vulnerable code sample

# VULNERABILITY DEMONSTRATION
# Description: FastAPI <0.65.2 CSRF via JSON in non-JSON Content-Type...
# This code demonstrates the security vulnerability

import os
import sys

def vulnerable_function():
    """Demonstrates the vulnerability with comprehensive example"""
    try:
        # Original vulnerable implementation:
        from fastapi import FastAPI

app = FastAPI()

@app.post("/items/")
async def create_item(item: dict):
    return item
        
        # Additional vulnerable patterns that demonstrate the issue:
        user_input = input("Enter data: ")  # Dangerous: no validation
        
        # Multiple security issues present:
        # 1. No input sanitization
        # 2. No bounds checking  
        # 3. No error handling
        # 4. Information disclosure possible
        
        if user_input:
            # Unsafe processing without validation
            processed = str(user_input) * 100  # Can cause DoS
            result = processed.upper().lower()  # Inefficient processing
            
            # Potential information leakage
            return {
                "result": result,
                "length": len(result),
                "input_type": type(user_input).__name__,
                "system_info": os.name  # Information disclosure
            }
        
        return {"error": "No input provided"}
    
    except Exception as e:
        # Vulnerable error handling - information leakage
        return {
            "error": f"Processing failed: {e}",
            "input": str(user_input) if 'user_input' in locals() else None,
            "traceback": str(e.__traceback__)  # Information disclosure
        }

def additional_vulnerable_example():
    """Additional example showing the vulnerability"""
    # This function demonstrates why the vulnerability is dangerous
    data = []
    
    # Vulnerable loop without bounds
    for i in range(1000000):  # Can cause DoS
        data.append(f"item_{i}")  # Memory exhaustion possible
    
    return len(data)

# Example of how this vulnerability could be exploited:
# 1. Provide malicious input to cause DoS
# 2. Extract system information through error messages  
# 3. Cause memory exhaustion through unbounded operations
# 4. Information disclosure through verbose error handling

Patched code sample

# SECURE IMPLEMENTATION
# Description: FastAPI <0.65.2 CSRF via JSON in non-JSON Content-Type...
# This code demonstrates the secure fix for the vulnerability

import os
import sys
import re
import logging
from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Union

class SecureProcessor:
    """Secure implementation with comprehensive protection measures"""
    
    def __init__(self, max_input_size: int = 10000, max_processing_time: int = 30):
        self.max_input_size = max_input_size
        self.max_processing_time = max_processing_time
        
        # Setup secure logging
        logging.basicConfig(level=logging.WARNING)
        self.logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
    
    def secure_function(self, user_input: Any = None) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
        """Secure implementation with comprehensive validation"""
        try:
            # Input validation layer 1: Existence check
            if user_input is None:
                raise ValueError("Input is required")
            
            # Input validation layer 2: Type checking
            if not isinstance(user_input, (str, int, float)):
                raise ValueError("Invalid input type")
            
            # Input validation layer 3: Size limits
            input_str = str(user_input)
            if len(input_str) > self.max_input_size:
                raise ValueError("Input too large")
            
            # Input validation layer 4: Content sanitization
            sanitized_input = self._sanitize_input(input_str)
            
            # Secure processing with bounds checking
            processed = self._process_safely(sanitized_input)
            
            # Output validation
            if not self._validate_output(processed):
                raise ValueError("Output validation failed")
            
            # Return secure result (no sensitive information)
            return {
                "result": processed,
                "status": "success",
                "length": len(processed) if processed else 0
            }
            
        except ValueError as e:
            # Secure error handling - no information leakage
            self.logger.warning(f"Input validation failed: {type(e).__name__}")
            return {
                "result": None,
                "status": "error",
                "message": "Invalid input provided"
            }
        except Exception as e:
            # Generic error handling - minimal information
            self.logger.error(f"Processing error: {type(e).__name__}")
            return {
                "result": None,
                "status": "error", 
                "message": "Processing failed"
            }
    
    def _sanitize_input(self, input_str: str) -> str:
        """Sanitize input to prevent injection attacks"""
        # Remove potentially dangerous characters
        sanitized = re.sub(r'[<>&"\']', '', input_str)
        
        # Remove control characters
        sanitized = re.sub(r'[\x00-\x1f\x7f-\x9f]', '', sanitized)
        
        # Normalize whitespace
        sanitized = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', sanitized).strip()
        
        # Length limit after sanitization
        return sanitized[:1000]
    
    def _process_safely(self, input_data: str) -> str:
        """Process data safely with bounds checking"""
        if not input_data:
            return ""
        
        # Safe processing with limits
        # Instead of multiplying by 100, use safe operations
        processed = input_data.upper()
        
        # Limit processing operations
        if len(processed) > 5000:
            processed = processed[:5000]
        
        return processed
    
    def _validate_output(self, output: Any) -> bool:
        """Validate output for security"""
        if output is None:
            return True
        
        if isinstance(output, str):
            # Check output size
            if len(output) > 50000:
                return False
            
            # Check for suspicious content
            if any(char in output for char in '<>&"\''):
                return False
        
        return True
    
    def secure_additional_processing(self) -> Dict[str, int]:
        """Secure additional processing with resource limits"""
        try:
            # Original patched implementation:
            from fastapi import FastAPI, Request, HTTPException
from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware

app = FastAPI()

@app.middleware("http")
async def check_content_type(request: Request, call_next):
    if request.method in ["POST", "PUT", "PATCH"]:
        content_type = request.headers.get("content-type")
        if content_type is None or not content_type.startswith("application/json"):
            raise HTTPException(status_code=415, detail="Unsupported Media Type")
    response = await call_next(request)
    return response

@app.post("/items/")
async def create_item(item: dict):
    return item
            
            # Enhanced secure processing:
            data = []
            max_items = 1000  # Reasonable limit
            
            # Bounded loop with resource monitoring
            for i in range(min(max_items, 1000)):
                # Check if we should continue
                if len(data) >= max_items:
                    break
                
                # Safe item creation
                item = f"secure_item_{i}"
                data.append(item)
                
                # Memory usage check (simplified)
                if sys.getsizeof(data) > 1024 * 1024:  # 1MB limit
                    break
            
            return {
                "items_created": len(data),
                "memory_safe": True,
                "bounded_execution": True
            }
            
        except Exception as e:
            self.logger.error(f"Secure processing error: {type(e).__name__}")
            return {
                "items_created": 0,
                "memory_safe": True,
                "error": "Processing failed safely"
            }

# Secure usage examples:
processor = SecureProcessor(max_input_size=5000)

# Safe input processing
result1 = processor.secure_function("safe input data")
result2 = processor.secure_function(12345)

# Safe additional processing  
additional_result = processor.secure_additional_processing()

# Security features implemented:
# 1. Comprehensive input validation
# 2. Size and resource limits
# 3. Content sanitization
# 4. Secure error handling (no information leakage)
# 5. Output validation
# 6. Bounded operations (no DoS)
# 7. Memory usage monitoring
# 8. Secure logging for monitoring

Cite this entry

@misc{vaitp:cve202132677,
  title        = {{FastAPI <0.65.2 CSRF via JSON in non-JSON Content-Type}},
  author       = {Bogaerts, Fr\'ed\'eric and Ivaki, Naghmeh and Fonseca, Jos\'e},
  year         = {2021},
  note         = {VAITP Python Vulnerability Dataset, entry CVE-2021-32677},
  howpublished = {\url{https://netpack.pt/vaitp/vulnerability/CVE-2021-32677/}}
}
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