MPP Multiple Payment Bypass and Griefing Vulnerabilities

The mpp crate, a Rust library, contains multiple critical vulnerabilities affecting versions prior to 0.8.0. These vulnerabilities allow for a range of malicious activities, including bypassing payment requirements, manipulating payment fees, and griefing existing sessions. Specifically, attackers can perform free tempo/charge and tempo/session requests, replay existing tempo/charge requests, piggyback off existing tempo/session channels, grief existing tempo/session channels, manipulate the fee payer, and replay existing stripe/charge requests. Given the severity of these issues, organizations utilizing mpp in their payment processing systems are at significant risk. Upgrade to version 0.8.0 is the only remediation.

Attack Chain

1. An attacker identifies a vulnerable mpp instance running a version prior to 0.8.0.
2. The attacker crafts a tempo/charge request, exploiting the vulnerability to bypass payment verification.
3. The attacker sends the crafted request to the mpp instance, resulting in a free charge.
4. Alternatively, the attacker replays a previously valid tempo/charge request, bypassing payment verification.
5. The attacker exploits the tempo/session vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to an existing session.
6. The attacker piggybacks off the existing tempo/session channel for malicious purposes.
7. The attacker can also grief the tempo/session channel, disrupting legitimate user activity.
8. The attacker may also manipulate the fee payer information within tempo or stripe charge/session handlers to force another party to pay for their requests.

Impact

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities can lead to significant financial losses due to payment bypass. Attackers can perform unauthorized transactions, manipulate fees, and disrupt legitimate services. The absence of available workarounds prior to patching amplifies the risk. Organizations utilizing the vulnerable versions of mpp are exposed to potential fraud and service disruption. The severity is considered critical due to the direct impact on payment processing integrity and potential for widespread abuse.

Recommendation

• Immediately upgrade mpp to version 0.8.0 to remediate the vulnerabilities.
• Implement network monitoring to detect and block replay attacks targeting tempo/charge or stripe/charge requests.
• Review logs for unexpected free tempo/charge or tempo/session requests after patching.
• Monitor payment gateways for unusual activity, such as manipulated fee payers.