Examples / Report #2871792 Saved analysis

Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in strcpy() Leading to Remote Code Execution

curl · 2024-11-3018.2s analysis · $0.013 in model calls

What the report claims

The report claims a buffer overflow in curl's use of strcpy() leads to remote code execution.

Compare with curl's recorded outcome

Labeled AI slop

curl's maintainer lists this report as AI slop

Shown for comparison after analysis. The pipeline did not see this label.

ProveIt's finding

More detail needed

There is not enough information to verify the reported bug.

Why this finding?

No curl source code was retrieved for the target revision; deterministic checks returned 'nothing_to_check'.
The stack trace in the report points to `__strcpy_evex` inside libcrypto (OpenSSL), not curl code.
The report does not identify a specific curl function, file, or code path that calls strcpy with attacker-controlled data.
Reproduction steps are generic and do not describe a curl command or API usage that triggers the alleged overflow.

What still needs checking

A specific curl version or commit where the vulnerability exists.
The curl source file and function that allegedly calls strcpy unsafely.
A concrete reproduction using curl (command line or libcurl API) that reaches the claimed strcpy.

How this analysis ran 6 claims · 0 citations verified

Checked against curl master on 2024-11-30 (b1c54e100674). Dev evaluation split. Citation verification checks that a referenced line was in the evidence; it does not prove the model interpreted it correctly.

1 · Grounding

nothing to check

no model · 0 references checked out, 0 did not

2 · Claims

NVIDIA-Nemotron-3-Nano-30B-A3B

6 claims · 2420 tokens · $0.0003

3 · Evidence

0 code snippets

real curl source at b1c54e100674 · 6 docs via Tavily

4 · Judgment

Nemotron-3-Ultra-550b-a55b

8813 tokens · 13.6s · $0.0125

5 · Receipts

0 of 0 citations verified

every citation must point at code the judge was shown

Review a draft reply to the reporter

Edit and verify before sending.

Thank you for the report. We could not locate any curl code matching your description at the revision checked (b1c54e100674). The stack trace you show executes inside OpenSSL advisory (CVE-2022-3602) describes a similar buffer overflow in libcrypto's CRYPTO_strdup, but that is an OpenSSL issue, not curl. Please provide: (1) the exact curl version or commit, (2) the curl source file and function that calls strcpy with user-controlled input, and (3) a curl command or libcurl API sequence that reproduces the overflow. Without a concrete curl code path, we cannot verify this as a curl vulnerability.

Inspect all claims and source code 6 claims · 0 code excerpts

Report claims

C1flaw not verifiable

unsafe use of strcpy() without bounds checking

Read the reasoning

No curl source code was provided for the target revision (b1c54e100674). The deterministic checks returned 'nothing_to_check', indicating the report does not reference any specific, checkable curl code. The claim that curl uses strcpy() unsafely cannot be evaluated without the relevant curl code.

C2location not verifiable

within the strcpy() function

Read the reasoning

The report cites `__strcpy_evex` from the stack trace, which appears in the libcrypto (OpenSSL) library per the external sources (E3, E5). No curl code calling strcpy is shown. The location claim cannot be verified against curl's codebase.

C3trigger not verifiable

input string exceeds the buffer's allocated size

Read the reasoning

The trigger condition (oversized input) is described generically. Without a specific curl code path that copies attacker-controlled data into a fixed-size stack buffer via strcpy, there is nothing to verify.

C4impact not verifiable

overwrites return address enabling arbitrary code execution

Read the reasoning

The impact claim depends on the preceding claims being true in curl. Since no curl code exhibiting the flaw is provided, the impact cannot be assessed as a curl vulnerability.

C5reproduction not verifiable

use a debugger like GDB to monitor stack overflow and overwrite return address

Read the reasoning

The reproduction steps describe a generic stack-smashing exercise using GDB but do not specify any curl command, option, or API call that would reach the alleged strcpy. No curl-specific reproduction is given.

C6impact not verifiable

can lead to privilege escalation, data theft, or system takeover

Read the reasoning

Consequential impact claim; not verifiable without a verified flaw in curl.

Read the original report (excerpt)

Full report on HackerOne ↗

## Summary: The vulnerability in the program arises from a classic buffer overflow, triggered by the unsafe use of the strcpy() function without bounds checking. The program copies data from a source buffer to a destination buffer, allowing attackers to overflow the buffer if the input string exceeds the buffer's allocated size. This vulnerability can lead to the overwriting of critical memory, such as the return address on the stack, enabling arbitrary code execution and control over the system. The vulnerability is caused by the unsafe use of strcpy(), which does not check the length of the input string before copying it into the buffer. When the input exceeds the buffer size, the overflow overwrites the adjacent memory, including the return address. The buffer overflow occurs within the strcpy() function, as seen in the following stack trace: `#0 __strcpy_evex () at ../sysdeps/x86_64/multiarch/strcpy-evex.S:94, #1 0x00007ffff765d2cd in CRYPTO_strdup () from /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so.3, #2 0x00007ffff756ef96 in ?? () from /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so.3...`. While libcrypto is present in the stack trace, the root cause of the overflow is in the curl program, not OpenSSL. The vulnerability is within the unsafe use of strcpy() in the curl application. At the overflow point, the CPU registers indicate the instruction pointer (IP) is inside `__strcpy_evex`. The register information shows values such as `rax 0x472cf0 4664560`, `rbx 0x7ffff7832be3 140737345956835`, `rip 0x7ffff7e31b80 0x7ffff7e31b80 <__strcpy_evex>`. The program is executing inside `__strcpy_evex`, where the buffer overflow occurs, allowing us to manipulate adjacent memory. The memory dump shows the stack around the overflow location with values such as `0x7fffffffd988: 0xf765d2cd 0x00007fff 0x00464a60 0x00000000, 0x7fffffffd998: 0x00472aa0 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000...`. The return address, which is overwritten, is located at `0x7fffffffd9b8`. By overflowing the buffer, we can replace this return address with a controlled value. The overflowed buffer is used by strcpy() to copy user-provided data. The buffer resides on the stack, and because the size is unchecked, overflowing the buffer leads to the overwriting of crucial stack elements, including the return address. The key target for overwriting is the return address at `0x4005d0`. By overwriting it, the attacker can contr …

Source code

No source code was retrieved for this analysis. The evidence may be incomplete.