CVE-2024-7983 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) affecting open-webui, an open-source web UI framework, specifically version 0.3.8. The vulnerability arises from an exposed endpoint that converts markdown content to HTML without requiring authentication. Because the endpoint lacks any form of input validation or resource usage limits, an attacker can submit a specially crafted markdown payload designed to consume excessive CPU time or memory during conversion. This results in a denial of service (DoS) condition where the server becomes unresponsive to legitimate requests until the conversion process completes. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network without any privileges or user interaction, increasing its risk profile. The CVSS v3.0 base score is 7.5, reflecting high severity due to the network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, and a high impact on availability. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. No patches or known exploits have been reported yet, but the lack of authentication and resource throttling makes this a critical operational risk for deployments relying on open-webui for markdown rendering in web applications or services.

For European organizations, this vulnerability primarily threatens service availability, potentially causing denial of service in web applications or services that utilize open-webui for markdown to HTML conversion. This can disrupt business operations, degrade user experience, and impact critical services, especially in sectors like government, finance, healthcare, and e-commerce where uptime is crucial. Since the vulnerability requires no authentication, it can be exploited by any remote attacker, increasing the risk of widespread disruption. Organizations using open-webui in public-facing or internal tools may face operational downtime, leading to financial losses and reputational damage. Additionally, the unavailability of services could affect compliance with European regulations such as GDPR if service interruptions impact data access or processing. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive mitigation before active attacks emerge.

To mitigate CVE-2024-7983, organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Restrict access to the markdown conversion endpoint by enforcing authentication and authorization controls to prevent unauthenticated usage. 2) Introduce rate limiting and request throttling on the endpoint to limit the number of markdown conversion requests per user or IP address, preventing resource exhaustion. 3) Implement input validation and sanitization to detect and reject maliciously crafted markdown payloads that could cause excessive processing. 4) Deploy resource usage monitoring and alerting on servers running open-webui to detect abnormal CPU or memory consumption patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. 5) Consider isolating the markdown conversion process in a sandboxed environment or container with strict resource limits to contain potential DoS effects. 6) Stay updated with open-webui releases and apply patches promptly once available. 7) If feasible, replace or supplement open-webui with alternative markdown rendering solutions that incorporate resource management features. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control, resource management, and proactive detection specific to this vulnerability.