ctypes: Buffer overflow in PyCArg_repr

There’s a buffer overflow in the ctypes PyCArg_repr() function.

Dates:

  • Disclosure date: 2021-01-16 (Python issue bpo-42938 reported)

Fixed In

Python issue

[security][CVE-2021-3177] ctypes double representation BoF.

  • Python issue: bpo-42938
  • Creation date: 2021-01-16
  • Reporter: Jordy Zomer

CVE-2021-3177

Python 3.x through 3.9.1 has a buffer overflow in PyCArg_repr in _ctypes/callproc.c, which may lead to remote code execution in certain Python applications that accept floating-point numbers as untrusted input, as demonstrated by a 1e300 argument to c_double.from_param. This occurs because sprintf is used unsafely.

Timeline

Timeline using the disclosure date 2021-01-16 as reference: