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Threat Model Analysis for jdg/mbprogresshud

Threat: UI Lockup / Denial of Service (DoS)

  • Threat: UI Lockup / Denial of Service (DoS)

    • Description: An attacker (or, more commonly, a bug in the application's own code) could cause the MBProgressHUD to be displayed indefinitely or repeatedly shown/hidden in rapid succession. This could be triggered by exploiting flaws in the application's logic that controls the HUD, such as race conditions, infinite loops, or failure to handle network errors or unexpected data. The attacker might send crafted network responses or manipulate data if that data directly influences the HUD's display logic. The key is that the vulnerability lies in how the application uses MBProgressHUD, not in a vulnerability within the library itself, but the library is the direct component affected.
    • Impact: The application becomes completely unresponsive to user input, effectively locking the user out. The user cannot interact with the app until the HUD is dismissed (which may never happen). This is a significant availability impact.
    • Affected Component: The core MBProgressHUD display and dismissal logic. Specifically, functions like showHUDAddedTo:animated:, hideHUDForView:animated:, and any custom completion blocks or delegate methods used to control the HUD's lifecycle. The vulnerability is in how these are used, but these are the directly affected components.
    • Risk Severity: High (Can render the application completely unusable).
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Robust Error Handling: Implement comprehensive error handling in the code that manages the HUD. Ensure the HUD is always dismissed, even in error scenarios. Use try-catch blocks (or equivalent error handling mechanisms) to gracefully handle exceptions.
      • Timeouts: Implement a timeout mechanism to automatically dismiss the HUD after a predefined maximum duration, regardless of the underlying task's status. This prevents indefinite lockups.
      • Background Queues: Use background queues (e.g., Grand Central Dispatch) to manage the HUD's display and the long-running task. This prevents blocking the main thread and keeps the UI responsive, even if the underlying task is stalled.
      • Input Validation: If the HUD's display is influenced by external data, validate that data thoroughly. Prevent unexpected or malicious input from triggering error conditions that could lead to a lockup.
      • Thorough Testing: Rigorously test the application under various network conditions (slow, intermittent, no connection) and with different data inputs, including edge cases and invalid data. Use UI testing to specifically test the HUD's behavior and ensure it is dismissed correctly in all scenarios.