OkHttp is a popular library for working with networking in Java and Android applications. Although it is widely used and considered reliable, serious bugs and vulnerabilities have still been discovered in it. In this article we will look at some of them.
- Vulnerability CVE-2019-10914
In 2019, a vulnerability was discovered in OkHttp due to incorrect processing of server response headers. This vulnerability allowed an attacker to perform an “HTTP Request Smuggling” attack, which could result in traffic being redirected to malicious sites or other unwanted actions.
To fix this vulnerability, the OkHttp developers have released a library update version 3.12.1. It is recommended that all users update their applications to this version or later.
- Error in processing the “Content-Length” header
In 2018, a bug was discovered in OkHttp related to incorrect processing of the “Content-Length” header of the server response. This error could lead to a buffer overflow and vulnerability in the application.
To solve this problem, the OkHttp developers have released a library update version 3.10.2. It is recommended that all users update their applications to this version or later.
- Vulnerability CVE-2016-5320
In 2016, a vulnerability was discovered in OkHttp due to incorrect handling of URL encoding. This vulnerability allowed an attacker to perform an “HTTP Response Splitting” attack, which could lead to the execution of unwanted code or redirecting traffic to malicious sites.
To fix this vulnerability, the OkHttp developers have released a library update version 2.7.5. It is recommended that all users update their applications to this version or later.
- Error in processing the “Transfer-Encoding” header
In 2015, a bug was discovered in OkHttp related to incorrect processing of the “Transfer-Encoding” header of the server response. This error could lead to incorrect data processing and a vulnerability in the application.
To solve this problem, the OkHttp developers have released a library update version 2.4.1. It is recommended that all users update their applications to this version or later.
OkHttp is a popular library for Android and Java applications used for sending HTTP requests and handling network operations. Despite its reliability and widespread use, the OkHttp library has been exposed to some serious bugs and vulnerabilities in the past that may pose a security threat to applications using the library. Below are some of the most notable incidents:
1. Heartbeat Bug: In February 2015, a critical vulnerability was discovered in the OkHttp library, called the Heartbeat Bug. It allowed attackers to carry out denial of service (DoS) attacks on applications using OkHttp by sending specially crafted HTTP requests that resulted in an infinite processing loop. This vulnerability has been fixed in OkHttp 2.4.
2. Path Traversal Vulnerability: In May 2017, a vulnerability was discovered that allows attackers to access files outside of the application directory through specially crafted URLs. The vulnerability was related to how OkHttp handled request forwarding and could allow attackers to read sensitive files or execute arbitrary code. The problem was resolved in OkHttp version 3.8.
3. SSL Certificate Validation Error: In August 2016, a bug related to SSL certificate verification was discovered. OkHttp did not properly check certificate expiration dates, potentially allowing invalid or expired certificates to be used to intercept data. This issue has been fixed in OkHttp 3.5.1.
4. Remote Code Execution Vulnerability: In November 2018, a critical vulnerability was discovered that allows remote code execution on devices with installed applications that use OkHttp. The issue was related to the way the library handled Content-Type headers and allowed attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted HTTP responses. The vulnerability was fixed in OkHttp version 3.12.1.
5. Information Leak Vulnerability: In July 2019, a vulnerability was discovered that leads to the leak of confidential information through the OkHttp cache. The problem was that cached responses were not always removed correctly, allowing attackers to gain access to sensitive data stored in the cache. The vulnerability was fixed in OkHttp version 3.14.These incidents highlight the importance of keeping libraries such as OkHttp updated to the latest versions to ensure protection against known vulnerabilities and bugs. Developers are also encouraged to closely monitor security updates and implement appropriate security measures in their applications. Despite these problems, OkHttp remains a reliable and widely used tool, especially since most vulnerabilities were quickly discovered and patched.
Conclusions
Although OkHttp is a reliable and popular networking library, serious bugs and vulnerabilities have been discovered in it. It is recommended that all users regularly update their applications to the latest version of the library and monitor security updates. Additionally, application developers must thoroughly test their applications for vulnerabilities and bugs.
