CVE-2021-21274 MEDIUM

CVE-2021-21274: Denial of service attack via .well-known lookups

Vendor Matrix-Org
Product synapse
Weakness CWE-400
Published February 26, 2021
Last update August 3, 2024

CVSS base score

4.3/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality None
Integrity None

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Synapse is a Matrix reference homeserver written in python (pypi package matrix-synapse). Matrix is an ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and VoIP. In Synapse before version 1.25.0, a malicious homeserver could redirect requests to their .well-known file to a large file. This can lead to a denial of service attack where homeservers will consume significantly more resources when requesting the .well-known file of a malicious homeserver. This affects any server which accepts federation requests from untrusted servers. Issue is resolved in version 1.25.0. As a workaround the `federation_domain_whitelist` setting can be used to restrict the homeservers communicated with over federation.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

February 26, 2021 CVE published
August 3, 2024 Record updated