Check inputs to java.util.zip.ZipInputStream for cases that cause consumption of excessive system resources. Denial of service can occur when resource usage is disproportionately large in comparison to the input data that causes the resource usage. The nature of the zip algorithm permits the existence of zip bombs where a small file, such as ZIPs, GIFs, and gzip-encoded HTTP content consumes excessive resources when uncompressed because of extreme compression.
The zip algorithm is capable of producing very large compression ratios [[Mahmoud 2002]]. For example, a file consisting of alternating lines of a characters and b characters can achieve a compression ratio of more than 200 to 1. Even higher compression ratios can be easily obtained using input data that is targeted to the compression algorithm, or using more input data (that is untargeted), or other compression methods.
Any entry in a zip file whose uncompressed file size is beyond a certain limit must not be uncompressed. The actual limit is dependent on the capabilities of the platform.
Noncompliant Code Example
This noncompliant code fails to check the resource consumption of the file that is being unzipped. It permits the operation to run to completion or until local resources are exhausted.
static final int BUFFER = 512;
// ...
private String validateFilename(String filename) { ... }
public final void unzip(String filename) throws java.io.IOException{
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(filename);
ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(new BufferedInputStream(fis));
ZipEntry entry;
while ((entry = zis.getNextEntry()) != null) {
System.out.println("Extracting: " + entry);
int count;
byte data[] = new byte[BUFFER];
// write the files to the disk
String name = validateFilename(entry.getName());
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(name);
BufferedOutputStream dest = new BufferedOutputStream(fos, BUFFER);
while ((count = zis.read(data, 0, BUFFER)) != -1) {
dest.write(data, 0, count);
}
dest.flush();
dest.close();
zis.closeEntry();
}
zis.close();
}
Compliant Solution
In this compliant solution, the code inside the while loop tracks the uncompressed file size of each entry in a zip archive while extracting the entry. It throws an exception if the entry being extracted is too large — about 100MB in this case. We do not use the ZipEntry.getSize() method because the value it reports is not reliable. Note that we validate the name of the file specified in the zip entry before using it to create a new file. We do not trust the source of the zip file, so this validation is performed in compliance with rule IDS00-J. Sanitize untrusted data passed across a trust boundary.
static final int BUFFER = 512;
static final int TOOBIG = 0x6400000; // 100MB
// ...
private String validateFilename(String filename) { ... }
public final void unzip(String filename) throws java.io.IOException{
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(filename);
ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(new BufferedInputStream(fis));
ZipEntry entry;
try {
while ((entry = zis.getNextEntry()) != null) {
System.out.println("Extracting: " + entry);
int count;
byte data[] = new byte[BUFFER]; // write the files to the disk, but ensure that the file is not insanely big
int total = 0;
String name = validateFilename(entry.getName());
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(name);
 BufferedOutputStream dest = new BufferedOutputStream(fos, BUFFER);
 while (total <= TOOBIG && (count = zis.read(data, 0, BUFFER)) != -1) {
   dest.write(data, 0, count);
   total += count;
 }
 dest.flush();
 dest.close();
zis.closeEntry();
if (total > TOOBIG) {
throw new IllegalStateException("File being unzipped is huge."); }
}
} finally {
zis.close();
}
}
Risk Assessment
Rule |
Severity |
Likelihood |
Remediation Cost |
Priority |
Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IDS04-J |
low |
probable |
high |
P2 |
L3 |
Related Guidelines
CWE-409. Improper handling of highly compressed data (data amplification) |
|
Secure Coding Guidelines for the Java Programming Language, Version 3.0 |
Guideline 2-5. Check that inputs do not cause excessive resource consumption |
Bibliography
<ac:structured-macro ac:name="unmigrated-wiki-markup" ac:schema-version="1" ac:macro-id="144454d2-1080-4c93-b1c8-c8dec19c6739"><ac:plain-text-body><![CDATA[ |
[[Mahmoud 2002 |
AA. References#Mahmoud 02]] |
[Compressing and Decompressing Data Using Java APIs |
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/compression/] |
]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:structured-macro> |