Objective: To cause a denial-of-service (DoS) or achieve arbitrary code execution (ACE) on the target application by exploiting vulnerabilities or misconfigurations within the Catch2 testing framework that are exposed in a production environment.
+-------------------------------------------------+
| Compromise Application via Catch2 (DoS or ACE) |
+-------------------------------------------------+
|
|
+---------------------+
| Exposed Catch2 | [HIGH RISK] [CRITICAL]
| Infrastructure |
+---------------------+
|
|
+---------+---------+
| Direct Access to | [HIGH RISK] [CRITICAL]
| Catch2 Endpoints |
+---------------------+
|
|
+---------+---------+
| Crafted HTTP | [HIGH RISK] [CRITICAL]
| Requests |
+---------------------+
/
/
+---------+---------+ +---------------------+
| DoS via Resource| | ACE via |
| Exhaustion | | Vulnerability |
+---------------------+ | in Test Code |
+---------------------+
|
+---------+---------+
| Bypass Security |
| Mechanisms |
+---------------------+
Attack Tree Path: Exposed Catch2 Infrastructure
Description: This is the foundational vulnerability. Catch2, a testing framework, is unintentionally included and accessible in a production environment. This should never happen.
Why it's Critical: This node enables all subsequent attack paths. Without exposure, the other attacks are largely impossible.
Why it's High Risk: The presence of Catch2 in production is a significant deviation from best practices and indicates a serious configuration error.
Mitigation:
Primary: Ensure Catch2 is completely excluded from production builds. Use conditional compilation (#ifndef NDEBUG or similar) and build system configurations to prevent its inclusion.
Secondary (if absolutely necessary, which is highly discouraged): Implement strict network-level access controls (firewalls, reverse proxies) and strong authentication to prevent unauthorized access to any Catch2-related components.
Attack Tree Path: Direct Access to Catch2 Endpoints
Description: An attacker can directly access URLs or network endpoints associated with Catch2's reporting or control mechanisms (e.g., /catch2/, /tests/, etc.).
Why it's Critical: This allows the attacker to interact with the testing framework, which is the prerequisite for exploiting further vulnerabilities.
Why it's High Risk: Direct access provides a low-effort entry point for attackers.
Mitigation:
Primary: Ensure that no Catch2-related routes or endpoints are exposed to the public internet or untrusted networks.
Secondary: Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests to known Catch2 paths.
Attack Tree Path: Crafted HTTP Requests
Description: The attacker sends specially crafted HTTP requests to the exposed Catch2 endpoints. These requests may exploit vulnerabilities in the framework itself or in the test code. Why it's Critical: This is the mechanism by which the attacker triggers the malicious actions (DoS or ACE). Why it's High Risk: Once endpoints are exposed, crafting requests is relatively straightforward, especially for DoS. Mitigation: Primary: Prevent exposure of endpoints (as above). Secondary: Implement input validation and sanitization on any exposed endpoints (though this is a defense-in-depth measure, as the endpoints shouldn't be exposed in the first place). Monitor for unusual HTTP request patterns.
Attack Tree Path: DoS via Resource Exhaustion
Description: The attacker crafts requests that trigger long-running tests, allocate excessive memory, or otherwise consume server resources, leading to a denial of service. Attack Vector: The attacker might repeatedly trigger computationally expensive tests or tests designed to allocate large amounts of memory. Impact: Application unavailability. Mitigation: Primary: Prevent exposure of endpoints. Secondary: Implement resource limits and monitoring to detect and prevent excessive resource consumption. Rate-limiting requests to Catch2 endpoints (if they must exist) can also help.
Attack Tree Path: ACE via Vulnerability in Test Code
Description: The attacker exploits a vulnerability (e.g., buffer overflow, command injection) within the test code itself. This requires that the test code is both vulnerable and reachable through the exposed Catch2 infrastructure. Attack Vector: The attacker crafts requests that provide malicious input to vulnerable test cases, triggering the vulnerability and achieving arbitrary code execution. Impact: Complete system compromise. Mitigation: Primary: Prevent exposure of endpoints. Secondary: Perform thorough code reviews and static analysis of test code, treating it with the same security rigor as production code. Sanitize any inputs used in test cases.
Attack Tree Path: Bypass Security Mechanisms
Description: If the exploited test code runs with higher privileges than the main application, the attacker can use the ACE to bypass security controls. Attack Vector: After achieving ACE via a test code vulnerability, the attacker leverages the elevated privileges of the test environment to disable security features, access sensitive data, or perform other unauthorized actions. Impact: Escalation of privileges and further compromise. Mitigation: Primary: Ensure that test code runs with the least privilege necessary. Avoid running tests as root or with administrative privileges. Secondary: Implement strong separation of privileges between the testing environment and the production environment.