rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

libtest: crafted terminfo color capability can cause large allocation during test output

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#157,664 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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C-bug needs-triage
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

I tried this code:

#[path = "library/test/src/term/terminfo/parm.rs"]
mod parm;

fn main() {
    let cap = b"%p1%100000000d";
    let out = parm::expand(
        cap,
        &[parm::Param::Number(1)],
        &mut parm::Variables::new(),
    )
    .unwrap();

    println!("cap_len = {}", cap.len());
    println!("out_len = {}", out.len());
}

libtest loads terminal color capabilities from the terminfo entry selected by
TERM, TERMINFO, or TERMINFO_DIRS. If that entry contains a crafted setaf
capability, libtest can allocate and write a very large buffer while printing
normal colored test output.

The minimal crafted capability is %p1%100000000d. It expands to a 100 MB
padded buffer. This is output-size amplification rather than superlinear CPU
complexity, but it can still cause denial of service in CI or test environments
where a crafted terminfo entry is loaded by a Rust test binary.

Meta

rustc --version --verbose:

61d7280f3c4c63fa24c56bdaa9a446151b5a30dc
Backtrace

cap_len = 14
out_len = 100000000

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with library/test/src/term/terminfo/parm.rs, especially expand, and reproduce the reported capability with the provided Rust example. Trace how libtest uses the expanded color capability during test output. Done means the crafted capability no longer causes an unexpectedly large allocation while normal capability expansion remains functional.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
security, testing-qa
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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