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attack-surface.md

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Attack Surface Analysis for 3b1b/manim

Attack Surface: Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE)

  • Description: Attackers can inject and execute malicious Python code within the manim rendering process.
    • Manim Contribution: Manim executes user-provided (or influenced) Python code to define animation scenes. This execution, often using functions like exec(), creates a direct pathway for code injection if input is not properly sanitized.
    • Example: A web application allows users to input a mathematical function. An attacker inputs "; import os; os.system('rm -rf /'); #" instead of a valid function. If this is directly used in the manim scene code, it could delete files.
    • Impact: Complete system compromise. The attacker gains full control over the system running manim.
    • Risk Severity: Critical
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Strict Input Validation: Implement rigorous whitelisting of allowed input. Reject anything that doesn't strictly conform.
      • Parameterization: Use parameterized approaches instead of string concatenation for dynamic scene elements.
      • Sandboxing (Essential): Run manim in a highly restricted, isolated environment (e.g., Docker container with minimal privileges). This is the most important mitigation.
      • Least Privilege: Run the manim process with the absolute minimum necessary privileges.
      • Code Review: Thoroughly review code that handles user input and interacts with manim.

Attack Surface: Denial of Service (DoS) via Resource Exhaustion

  • Description: Attackers can craft manim scenes that consume excessive system resources (CPU, memory, disk), making the system unresponsive.
    • Manim Contribution: Manim's rendering can be computationally expensive. Complex animations, high resolutions, or long durations can overwhelm resources.
    • Example: An attacker submits a scene requesting an extremely high-resolution render of a fractal with an infinite zoom and long duration, exhausting server resources.
    • Impact: System unavailability. The application or server becomes unusable.
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Resource Limits: Impose strict limits on rendering parameters (resolution, frame rate, duration, object count, complexity).
      • Timeouts: Implement timeouts for rendering processes. Terminate renders exceeding a time limit.
      • Job Queues: Use a job queue and worker system to isolate rendering processes.
      • Resource Monitoring: Monitor system resource usage and alert on threshold breaches.
      • Rate Limiting: Limit rendering requests per user within a time period.
      • Sandboxing: Sandboxing helps contain the impact of resource exhaustion.

Attack Surface: Path Traversal

  • Description: Attackers manipulate file paths used by manim to write files to arbitrary locations.
    • Manim Contribution: Manim writes output files (videos, images). User-influenced output paths without sanitization are vulnerable.
    • Example: A user provides an output filename like ../../../etc/passwd, potentially overwriting the system's password file.
    • Impact: Data corruption, system compromise, or information disclosure.
    • Risk Severity: High
    • Mitigation Strategies:
      • Fixed Output Directory: Use a dedicated, secure, and fixed output directory. Do not allow user input to influence the directory.
      • Unique Filenames: Generate unique, unpredictable filenames (e.g., UUIDs). Do not use user-provided filenames directly.
      • Input Sanitization: Rigorously sanitize any user input that might influence the filename.
      • Least Privilege: Run manim with minimal file system permissions.
      • Sandboxing: A sandboxed environment restricts file system access.