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Re:Parsing JSON is a Minefield by SomeStupidPoint on Wednesday October 26, 2016 @12:59PM (#12798199)
The steps are the following:

1. Parse user.

2. Parse password.

3. Create session object from user and password.

4. Parse JSON. (Crashes here.)

5. Update session and do some other security stuff.

The problem is that they're creating a persistent session object ahead of when the JSON parameters are being decoded, which leaves a (partially initialized, persisting-outside-of-function) session object without having gone through the full authentication flow.

The problem is that they're creating permanent objects ahead of a full validation on the data necessary to actually properly initialize the object.

(I think the OP may have been a little vague because that's probably specific enough to identify the vuln with a scanner and a hunch.)

Re:Parsing JSON is a Minefield by umbrai_nation on Wednesday October 26, 2016 @10:16PM (#12802442)
Wait, so it creates a privileged session before verifying the password? That's your problem right there. A crash in the JSON processor (or anywhere else) is a minor blip compared to this godzilla bug of granting access before it's been earned.
Re:Parsing JSON is a Minefield by mathw on Thursday October 27, 2016 @04:25AM (#12803603)
Spot on! But if the JSON parser couldn't crash on malformed input, that kind of whopping mistake would be a lot harder to exploit.