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HIGH

GHSA-353c-v8x9-v7c3

MCP-Framework: Unbounded memory allocation in readRequestBody allows denial of service via HTTP transport

Quick fix

GHSA-353c-v8x9-v7c3 — mcp-framework: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.

npm install mcp-framework@0.2.22

Details

### Summary

The `readRequestBody()` function in `src/transports/http/server.ts` concatenates HTTP request body chunks into a string with no size limit, allowing a remote unauthenticated attacker to crash the server via memory exhaustion with a single large HTTP POST request.

### Details

**File:** `src/transports/http/server.ts`, lines 224-240

```typescript private async readRequestBody(req: IncomingMessage): Promise<any> { return new Promise((resolve, reject) => { let body = ''; req.on('data', (chunk) => { body += chunk.toString(); // No size limit }); req.on('end', () => { try { const parsed = body ? JSON.parse(body) : null; resolve(parsed); } catch (error) { reject(error); } }); req.on('error', reject); }); } ```

A `maxMessageSize` configuration value exists in `DEFAULT_HTTP_STREAM_CONFIG` (4MB, defined in `src/transports/http/types.ts` line 124) but is never enforced in `readRequestBody()`. This creates a false sense of security.

### PoC

Local testing with 50MB POST payloads against the vulnerable `readRequestBody()` function:

| Trial | Payload | RSS growth | Time | Result | |-------|---------|-----------|------|--------| | 1 | 50MB | +197MB | 42ms | Vulnerable | | 2 | 50MB | +183MB | 46ms | Vulnerable | | 3 | 50MB | +15MB | 43ms | Vulnerable | | 4 | 50MB | +14MB | 32ms | Vulnerable | | 5 | 50MB | +65MB | 38ms | Vulnerable |

Reproducibility: 5/5 (100%)

### Impact

- **Denial of Service:** Any mcp-framework HTTP server can be crashed by a single large POST request to /mcp - **No authentication required:** readRequestBody() executes before any auth checks (auth is opt-in, default is no auth) - **Dead config:** maxMessageSize exists but is never enforced, giving a false sense of security - **Affected:** All applications using mcp-framework HttpStreamTransport (60,000 weekly npm downloads)

**CWE-770:** Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling **Suggested CVSS 3.1:** 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

### Suggested Fix

Enforce `maxMessageSize` in `readRequestBody()`:

```typescript private async readRequestBody(req: IncomingMessage): Promise<any> { const maxSize = this._config.maxMessageSize || 4 * 1024 * 1024; return new Promise((resolve, reject) => { let body = ''; let size = 0; req.on('data', (chunk) => { size += chunk.length; if (size > maxSize) { req.destroy(); reject(new Error('Request body too large')); return; } body += chunk.toString(); }); // ... }); } ```

### Disclosure Timeline

This report follows coordinated disclosure. I request a 90-day window before public disclosure.

**Reporter:** Raza Sharif, CyberSecAI Ltd (contact@agentsign.dev)

Are you affected?

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Affected packages

npm/mcp-framework
Introduced in: 0Fixed in: 0.2.22
Fixnpm install mcp-framework@0.2.22

References