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Security researcher Orange Tsai disclosed Confusion Attacks, a set of architectural vulnerabilities in Apache HTTP Server (httpd) caused by modules inconsistently interpreting and modifying shared request fields. The flaws—covering Filename, DocumentRoot, and Handler Confusion—were assigned nine CVEs, including CVE-2024-38472, CVE-2024-38473 through CVE-2024-38477, and CVE-2024-39573. Depending on configuration, exploitation can permit authentication or access-control bypasses, arbitrary local-file and source-code disclosure, SSRF, XSS, local socket access, and possible remote code execution.
Apache addressed the reported issues in httpd 2.4.60. Risk is highest where deployments use unsafe RewriteRule directives, PHP-FPM or mod_proxy, CGI-style handlers or redirects, permissive directory and symlink settings, or accessible local package files. Apache's mod_rewrite guidance documents hardening changes associated with CVE-2024-38474 and CVE-2024-38475; administrators should avoid enabling UnsafeAllow3F and UnsafePrefixStat unless they have verified that untrusted input cannot control rewritten query strings or filesystem paths.
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3 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
Apache HTTP Server published security advisories and released version 2.4.60 to address the reported vulnerabilities, including CVE-2024-38472 through CVE-2024-38477 and CVE-2024-39573. The release added protections relevant to encoded-question-mark rewrites and unsafe filesystem-path substitutions.
Orange Tsai presented technical details of Filename, DocumentRoot, and Handler Confusion attacks in Apache HTTP Server, including authentication and ACL bypasses, source-code disclosure, SSRF, denial of service, and potential SSRF-to-RCE chains. The presentation covered CVE-2024-38472 through CVE-2024-38477, CVE-2024-39573, and CVE-2023-38709, along with mitigations such as UnsafeAllow3F and UnsafePrefixStat compatibility flags.
A researcher reported nine Apache HTTP Server vulnerabilities through the project's security mailing list, involving Filename Confusion, DocumentRoot Confusion, and Handler Confusion in modular request processing.
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