fix(debian): bound the decompressed members of a .deb archive (#5293)

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/cataloger_test.go

@@ -285,6 +285,7 @@ func TestDpkgArchiveCataloger(t *testing.T) {
 			pkgtest.NewCatalogTester().
 				WithImageResolver(t, tt.name).
 				IgnoreLocationLayer(). // this fixture can be rebuilt, thus the layer ID will change
+				WithErrorAssertion(require.NoError).
 				Expects(tt.expected, nil).
 				TestCataloger(t, c)
 		})

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/package.go

@@ -202,7 +202,11 @@ func getAdditionalFileListing(resolver file.Resolver, dbLocation file.Location,
 	if md5Reader != nil && md5Location != nil {
 		defer internal.CloseAndLogError(md5Reader, md5Location.AccessPath)
 		// attach the file list
-		files = append(files, parseDpkgMD5Info(md5Reader)...)
+		records, err := parseDpkgMD5Info(md5Reader)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Debugf("dpkg md5sums file %q: %v", md5Location.RealPath, err)
+		}
+		files = append(files, records...)
 
 		// keep a record of the file where this was discovered
 		locations = append(locations, *md5Location)
@@ -213,7 +217,11 @@ func getAdditionalFileListing(resolver file.Resolver, dbLocation file.Location,
 	if conffilesReader != nil && conffilesLocation != nil {
 		defer internal.CloseAndLogError(conffilesReader, conffilesLocation.AccessPath)
 		// attach the file list
-		files = append(files, parseDpkgConffileInfo(conffilesReader)...)
+		records, err := parseDpkgConffileInfo(conffilesReader)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Debugf("dpkg conffiles file %q: %v", conffilesLocation.RealPath, err)
+		}
+		files = append(files, records...)
 
 		// keep a record of the file where this was discovered
 		locations = append(locations, *conffilesLocation)

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/parse_deb_archive.go

@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ package debian
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"math"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mholt/archives"
 
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal"
+	intFile "github.com/anchore/syft/internal/file"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/unknown"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/artifact"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/file"
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@ func parseDebArchive(ctx context.Context, _ file.Resolver, _ *generic.Environmen
 	var metadata *pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry
 	var licenses []string
 	var unknownErr error
+	var sawControl, sawData bool
 	for {
 		header, err := arReader.Next()
 		if err == io.EOF {
@@ -43,19 +47,28 @@ func parseDebArchive(ctx context.Context, _ file.Resolver, _ *generic.Environmen
 		}
 
 		switch {
-		case strings.HasPrefix(header.Name, "control.tar"):
+		// a .deb has exactly one control.tar.* and one data.tar.* member; anything past the first of
+		// each is attacker-supplied filler that would otherwise buy a fresh decompression budget
+		case !sawControl && strings.HasPrefix(header.Name, "control.tar"):
+			sawControl = true
 			// Decompress the control.tar.* file
-			dcReader, err := decompressionStream(ctx, arReader, header.Name)
+			dcReader, err := decompressionStream(ctx, arReader, header.Name, maxControlTarSize)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, nil, unknown.New(reader.Location, fmt.Errorf("failed to decompress control.tar.* file: %w", err))
 			}
 			metadata, err = processControlTar(dcReader)
-			if err != nil {
+			switch {
+			case err != nil && metadata == nil:
 				return nil, nil, unknown.New(reader.Location, fmt.Errorf("failed to process control.tar.* file: %w", err))
+			case err != nil:
+				// metadata came back usable but incomplete (a clipped file listing); keep the package and
+				// record why it is partial
+				unknownErr = unknown.Append(unknownErr, reader.Location, fmt.Errorf("partial control.tar.* file: %w", err))
 			}
-		case strings.HasPrefix(header.Name, "data.tar"):
+		case !sawData && strings.HasPrefix(header.Name, "data.tar"):
+			sawData = true
 			// Decompress the data.tar.* file
-			dcReader, err := decompressionStream(ctx, arReader, header.Name)
+			dcReader, err := decompressionStream(ctx, arReader, header.Name, maxDataTarSize)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, nil, unknown.New(reader.Location, fmt.Errorf("failed to decompress data.tar.* file: %w", err))
 			}
@@ -64,15 +77,21 @@ func parseDebArchive(ctx context.Context, _ file.Resolver, _ *generic.Environmen
 				unknownErr = unknown.Append(unknownErr, reader.Location, fmt.Errorf("failed to process data.tar.* file: %w", err))
 			}
 		}
+
+		if sawControl && sawData {
+			break
+		}
 	}
 
 	if metadata == nil {
 		return nil, nil, unknown.New(reader.Location, fmt.Errorf("no application found described in .dpkg archive"))
 	}
 
+	// a partial parse still yields a usable package, so report what went wrong alongside it rather than
+	// dropping either one
 	return []pkg.Package{
 		newDebArchivePackage(ctx, reader.Location, *metadata, licenses),
-	}, nil, nil
+	}, nil, unknownErr
 }
 
 // this is the pattern you'd expect to see in a tar header for a debian package license file ()
@@ -81,6 +100,7 @@ var archiveHeaderLicensePathPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^\.?/usr/share/doc/[^/
 func processDataTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) ([]string, error) {
 	defer internal.CloseAndLogError(dcReader, "")
 	var licenses []string
+	var copyrightFiles int
 
 	tarReader := tar.NewReader(dcReader)
 	for {
@@ -96,6 +116,10 @@ func processDataTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) ([]string, error) {
 		// TODO: in the future we can add archive sub indexes to the locations to see where within
 		// the dpkg archive the license was found
 		if archiveHeaderLicensePathPattern.MatchString(header.Name) {
+			copyrightFiles++
+			if copyrightFiles > maxCopyrightFiles {
+				return licenses, fmt.Errorf("copyright file count exceeds %d; remaining files not read", maxCopyrightFiles)
+			}
 			licenses = append(licenses, parseLicensesFromCopyright(tarReader)...)
 		}
 	}
@@ -103,6 +127,10 @@ func processDataTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) ([]string, error) {
 	return licenses, nil
 }
 
+// processControlTar always returns whatever metadata it managed to parse, even alongside a non-nil
+// error. A non-nil error with non-nil metadata means the package is usable but incomplete (e.g. a
+// clipped file listing); nil metadata means nothing usable was found and the caller should treat it
+// as fatal.
 func processControlTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) (*pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry, error) {
 	defer internal.CloseAndLogError(dcReader, "")
 
@@ -111,6 +139,7 @@ func processControlTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) (*pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry, error) {
 	var metadata *pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry
 	var files []pkg.DpkgFileRecord
 	var confFileRecords []pkg.DpkgFileRecord
+	var listingErr error
 
 	for {
 		header, err := tarReader.Next()
@@ -118,7 +147,7 @@ func processControlTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) (*pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry, error) {
 			break
 		}
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read control tar: %w", err)
+			return metadata, fmt.Errorf("failed to read control tar: %w", err)
 		}
 
 		switch filepath.Base(header.Name) {
@@ -134,11 +163,15 @@ func processControlTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) (*pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry, error) {
 			entry := pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry(entries[0].toDpkgEntry())
 			metadata = &entry
 		case "md5sums":
-			// parseDpkgMD5Info already streams via bufio.Scanner
-			files = parseDpkgMD5Info(tarReader)
+			// parseDpkgMD5Info streams via bufio.Scanner and reports its own clipping/scan errors
+			var err error
+			files, err = parseDpkgMD5Info(tarReader)
+			listingErr = errors.Join(listingErr, err)
 		case "conffiles":
-			// parseDpkgConffileInfo already streams via bufio.Scanner
-			confFileRecords = parseDpkgConffileInfo(tarReader)
+			// parseDpkgConffileInfo streams via bufio.Scanner and reports its own clipping/scan errors
+			var err error
+			confFileRecords, err = parseDpkgConffileInfo(tarReader)
+			listingErr = errors.Join(listingErr, err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -159,10 +192,36 @@ func processControlTar(dcReader io.ReadCloser) (*pkg.DpkgArchiveEntry, error) {
 	}
 
 	metadata.Files = files
-	return metadata, nil
+
+	// a clipped or unreadable file listing leaves the package usable, so hand both back and let the
+	// caller decide
+	return metadata, listingErr
 }
 
-func decompressionStream(ctx context.Context, r io.Reader, filePath string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+// a .deb's member sizes are bounded by the archive, but what they decompress to is not: xz and zstd
+// both exceed gzip's ~1032:1, so a few KB member can expand without limit. The two members get
+// different budgets because they hold different things.
+const (
+	// control.tar holds only metadata (control, md5sums, conffiles). Even a package shipping a hundred
+	// thousand files lands around 12MB of md5sums text.
+	maxControlTarSize int64 = 16 * intFile.MB
+
+	// data.tar is the package payload, which is legitimately large (texlive and cuda ship hundreds of
+	// MB), so this is only here to stop the tar walk from spinning forever on a bomb. It mirrors the
+	// perFileReadLimit already used for archive extraction in internal/file/copy.go.
+	maxDataTarSize int64 = 2 * intFile.GB
+
+	// a real .deb ships exactly one copyright file per package.
+	maxCopyrightFiles = 1000
+)
+
+// sentinels so callers (and tests) can match with errors.Is instead of substring matching.
+var (
+	errDecompressedTooLarge = errors.New("decompressed stream is larger than the max allowed size")
+	errClippedFileListing   = errors.New("file listing exceeds the max allowed entries")
+)
+
+func decompressionStream(ctx context.Context, r io.Reader, filePath string, maxDecompressed int64) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	format, stream, err := archives.Identify(ctx, filePath, r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to identify compression format: %w", err)
@@ -178,5 +237,45 @@ func decompressionStream(ctx context.Context, r io.Reader, filePath string) (io.
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create decompression reader: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	return rc, nil
+	return newBoundedReadCloser(rc, maxDecompressed), nil
+}
+
+// boundedReadCloser fails the read past a byte budget rather than truncating.
+//
+// io.LimitedReader is the obvious thing to reach for here and is wrong for this: past its limit it
+// just stops returning bytes, and both consumers of this are tar readers, which read a truncated
+// stream as a clean end of archive. Together that emits a package silently missing files, which is
+// the exact failure the bound exists to catch. The signal is recoverable by checking
+// LimitedReader.N after the walk finishes (the same shape as safeCopy in internal/file/copy.go,
+// which counts bytes off io.Copy), but nothing obliges a caller to write that check and a missed
+// one is silent all over again. Erroring at the Read is the version that cannot be forgotten.
+//
+// net/http's MaxBytesReader has precisely these semantics and is stdlib, but reaching into the HTTP
+// package to parse a .deb leaves the next reader wondering what it is doing here.
+type boundedReadCloser struct {
+	io.ReadCloser
+	remaining int64
+	limit     int64
+}
+
+func newBoundedReadCloser(rc io.ReadCloser, limit int64) *boundedReadCloser {
+	// budget is one byte past the cap so a stream of exactly limit bytes still reaches EOF normally,
+	// and only the byte after the cap trips the error. Clamp so a limit near math.MaxInt64 can't wrap
+	// remaining negative and fail every read immediately.
+	if limit < 0 || limit > math.MaxInt64-1 {
+		limit = math.MaxInt64 - 1
+	}
+	return &boundedReadCloser{ReadCloser: rc, remaining: limit + 1, limit: limit}
+}
+
+func (b *boundedReadCloser) Read(p []byte) (int, error) {
+	if b.remaining <= 0 {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("%w (%d bytes)", errDecompressedTooLarge, b.limit)
+	}
+	if int64(len(p)) > b.remaining {
+		p = p[:b.remaining]
+	}
+	n, err := b.ReadCloser.Read(p)
+	b.remaining -= int64(n)
+	return n, err
 }

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/parse_deb_archive_test.go

@@ -3,11 +3,22 @@ package debian
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
 	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"testing/iotest"
 
+	"github.com/blakesmith/ar"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/unknown"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/file"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic"
 )
 
 func TestProcessControlTar(t *testing.T) {
@@ -85,3 +96,273 @@ func writeTarEntry(t *testing.T, tw *tar.Writer, name, content string) {
 	_, err := tw.Write([]byte(content))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
+
+func Test_boundedReadCloser(t *testing.T) {
+	payload := []byte("0123456789")
+
+	t.Run("a stream at exactly the cap reads through whole", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// the positive assertion is the point: it proves the one-byte-past budget does not truncate
+		// at-cap content, which a bare "did not error" check would not catch
+		r := newBoundedReadCloser(io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(payload)), int64(len(payload)))
+
+		got, err := io.ReadAll(r)
+
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, payload, got)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a stream past the cap errors rather than truncating", func(t *testing.T) {
+		r := newBoundedReadCloser(io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(payload)), int64(len(payload)-1))
+
+		_, err := io.ReadAll(r)
+
+		require.ErrorIs(t, err, errDecompressedTooLarge)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("the underlying read error is not masked", func(t *testing.T) {
+		r := newBoundedReadCloser(io.NopCloser(iotest.ErrReader(errBoom)), 1024)
+
+		_, err := io.ReadAll(r)
+
+		require.ErrorIs(t, err, errBoom)
+	})
+}
+
+var errBoom = errors.New("boom")
+
+func Test_decompressionStream_boundsDecompressedSize(t *testing.T) {
+	// a highly compressible payload standing in for a decompression bomb: tiny compressed, large out
+	var raw bytes.Buffer
+	raw.Write(make([]byte, 512*1024))
+
+	var gz bytes.Buffer
+	gw := gzip.NewWriter(&gz)
+	_, err := gw.Write(raw.Bytes())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, gw.Close())
+
+	require.Less(t, gz.Len(), 4096, "compressed payload should be tiny relative to what it expands to")
+
+	rc, err := decompressionStream(context.Background(), bytes.NewReader(gz.Bytes()), "control.tar.gz", 64*1024)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "the bound is enforced on read, not on open")
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = rc.Close() })
+
+	_, err = io.ReadAll(rc)
+
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, errDecompressedTooLarge)
+}
+
+func Test_processControlTar_rejectsABombedControlMember(t *testing.T) {
+	// end to end through the real consumer: a tar reader treats a truncated stream as a clean end of
+	// archive, so this asserts the bomb surfaces as an error instead of a package missing its files.
+	// "control" parses fully before the md5sums stream dies, so this also covers the Fix C contract: a
+	// control tar read failure must not drop the package that was already parsed.
+	var tarBuf bytes.Buffer
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(&tarBuf)
+	writeTarEntry(t, tw, "control", "Package: test-package\nVersion: 1.0.0\n")
+	writeTarEntry(t, tw, "md5sums", strings.Repeat("d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  usr/bin/x\n", 20000))
+	require.NoError(t, tw.Close())
+
+	metadata, err := processControlTar(newBoundedReadCloser(io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(tarBuf.Bytes())), 4096))
+
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, errDecompressedTooLarge)
+	require.NotNil(t, metadata, "a control tar read failure after \"control\" was parsed must not drop the package")
+	assert.Equal(t, "test-package", metadata.Package)
+}
+
+func Test_processControlTar_clippedListingIsUsableButReported(t *testing.T) {
+	// the record cap must not drop the package: metadata comes back usable AND an error explains why the
+	// file list is short, so the caller can record it as an unknown instead of discarding the package
+	var tarBuf bytes.Buffer
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(&tarBuf)
+	writeTarEntry(t, tw, "control", "Package: test-package\nVersion: 1.0.0\n")
+	writeTarEntry(t, tw, "md5sums", strings.Repeat("d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  usr/bin/x\n", maxDpkgFileRecords+10))
+	require.NoError(t, tw.Close())
+
+	metadata, err := processControlTar(io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(tarBuf.Bytes())))
+
+	require.Error(t, err, "clipping must be reported")
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, errClippedFileListing)
+	require.NotNil(t, metadata, "the package must survive a clipped file listing")
+	assert.Equal(t, "test-package", metadata.Package)
+	assert.Len(t, metadata.Files, maxDpkgFileRecords)
+}
+
+// buildDeb assembles a minimal .deb (an ar archive of debian-binary + control.tar.gz + data.tar.gz).
+func buildDeb(t *testing.T, controlTar, dataTar []byte) []byte {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	gzipped := func(b []byte) []byte {
+		var out bytes.Buffer
+		w := gzip.NewWriter(&out)
+		_, err := w.Write(b)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NoError(t, w.Close())
+		return out.Bytes()
+	}
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	aw := ar.NewWriter(&buf)
+	require.NoError(t, aw.WriteGlobalHeader())
+
+	for _, m := range []struct {
+		name string
+		body []byte
+	}{
+		{"debian-binary", []byte("2.0\n")},
+		{"control.tar.gz", gzipped(controlTar)},
+		{"data.tar.gz", gzipped(dataTar)},
+	} {
+		require.NoError(t, aw.WriteHeader(&ar.Header{Name: m.name, Size: int64(len(m.body))}))
+		_, err := aw.Write(m.body)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	return buf.Bytes()
+}
+
+func Test_parseDebArchive_surfacesPartialParseAsUnknown(t *testing.T) {
+	// guards a silent failure: unknownErr was accumulated and then dropped on return, so a data.tar that
+	// failed to parse produced a clean-looking SBOM with no record that anything went wrong. The property
+	// that actually matters is that the returned error is a *unknown.CoordinateError: that's what decides
+	// between "recorded as an unknown" (this case) and "aborts the entire scan" (anything else), per
+	// internal/task/executor.go and syft/create_sbom.go. A plain substring match on "data.tar" would pass
+	// just as well if unknown.Append were swapped for errors.Join, which is the regression that matters.
+	var controlTar bytes.Buffer
+	ctw := tar.NewWriter(&controlTar)
+	writeTarEntry(t, ctw, "control", "Package: test-package\nVersion: 1.0.0\nArchitecture: all\n")
+	require.NoError(t, ctw.Close())
+
+	// a data.tar that is not a valid tar at all, so processDataTar errors
+	dataTar := []byte(strings.Repeat("not a tar file at all", 100))
+
+	debBytes := buildDeb(t, controlTar.Bytes(), dataTar)
+
+	loc := file.NewVirtualLocation("/test.deb", "/test.deb")
+	pkgs, _, err := parseDebArchive(context.Background(), nil, &generic.Environment{},
+		file.LocationReadCloser{
+			Location:   loc,
+			ReadCloser: io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(debBytes)),
+		})
+
+	require.Len(t, pkgs, 1, "the package must still be emitted")
+	assert.Equal(t, "test-package", pkgs[0].Name)
+	require.Error(t, err, "a failed data.tar parse must not be swallowed")
+
+	coordinateErrors, remaining := unknown.ExtractCoordinateErrors(err)
+	require.NoError(t, remaining, "no non-coordinate errors should remain in the chain")
+	require.Len(t, coordinateErrors, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, loc.Coordinates, coordinateErrors[0].Coordinates)
+	assert.Contains(t, coordinateErrors[0].Reason.Error(), "data.tar")
+}
+
+func Test_parseDebArchive_controlTarBombRejectedByRealSizeBound(t *testing.T) {
+	// end to end through the real entrypoint using the real maxControlTarSize (16MB), not a swapped-in
+	// test value: nothing else in this suite exercises that constant at its actual call site. The bomb
+	// entry is written before "control", so "control" is never reached and processControlTar returns nil
+	// metadata alongside the error -- this exercises parseDebArchive's fatal branch (metadata == nil).
+	var controlTar bytes.Buffer
+	ctw := tar.NewWriter(&controlTar)
+	writeTarEntry(t, ctw, "bomb", strings.Repeat("\x00", 20*1024*1024))
+	writeTarEntry(t, ctw, "control", "Package: test-package\nVersion: 1.0.0\n")
+	require.NoError(t, ctw.Close())
+
+	debBytes := buildDeb(t, controlTar.Bytes(), nil)
+	require.Less(t, len(debBytes), 64*1024, "compressed .deb should stay tiny relative to what it expands to")
+
+	loc := file.NewVirtualLocation("/bomb.deb", "/bomb.deb")
+	pkgs, _, err := parseDebArchive(context.Background(), nil, &generic.Environment{},
+		file.LocationReadCloser{
+			Location:   loc,
+			ReadCloser: io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(debBytes)),
+		})
+
+	require.Empty(t, pkgs, "no package should be emitted when the control tar never parses")
+	require.Error(t, err)
+
+	coordinateErrors, remaining := unknown.ExtractCoordinateErrors(err)
+	require.NoError(t, remaining, "no non-coordinate errors should remain in the chain")
+	require.Len(t, coordinateErrors, 1)
+	require.ErrorIs(t, coordinateErrors[0].Reason, errDecompressedTooLarge)
+}
+
+// arMember is one named, already-encoded ar entry body, for tests that need control over the raw
+// member list (order, duplicates) that buildDeb's fixed three-member shape does not allow.
+type arMember struct {
+	name string
+	body []byte
+}
+
+// buildDebWithMembers is buildDeb generalized to an arbitrary member list.
+func buildDebWithMembers(t *testing.T, members []arMember) []byte {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	aw := ar.NewWriter(&buf)
+	require.NoError(t, aw.WriteGlobalHeader())
+
+	for _, m := range members {
+		require.NoError(t, aw.WriteHeader(&ar.Header{Name: m.name, Size: int64(len(m.body))}))
+		_, err := aw.Write(m.body)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	return buf.Bytes()
+}
+
+func Test_parseDebArchive_ignoresDuplicateArMembers(t *testing.T) {
+	// a .deb has exactly one control.tar.* and one data.tar.*; a second data.tar.* member is
+	// attacker-supplied filler that would otherwise buy a fresh decompression budget, and here would also
+	// fail to parse as a tar at all -- so this proves the walk stops after the first of each kind rather
+	// than merely surviving a well-formed duplicate.
+	gzipped := func(b []byte) []byte {
+		var out bytes.Buffer
+		w := gzip.NewWriter(&out)
+		_, err := w.Write(b)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NoError(t, w.Close())
+		return out.Bytes()
+	}
+
+	var controlTar bytes.Buffer
+	ctw := tar.NewWriter(&controlTar)
+	writeTarEntry(t, ctw, "control", "Package: test-package\nVersion: 1.0.0\n")
+	require.NoError(t, ctw.Close())
+
+	var firstDataTar bytes.Buffer
+	dtw := tar.NewWriter(&firstDataTar)
+	require.NoError(t, dtw.Close())
+
+	debBytes := buildDebWithMembers(t, []arMember{
+		{"debian-binary", []byte("2.0\n")},
+		// the duplicate sits before control.tar.gz on purpose: the loop cannot have stopped yet at that
+		// point, so only the per-member guard can keep it from being read
+		{"data.tar.gz", gzipped(firstDataTar.Bytes())},
+		{"data.tar.gz", []byte("not a tar file at all")}, // not even gzipped; would error if ever read
+		{"control.tar.gz", gzipped(controlTar.Bytes())},
+	})
+
+	pkgs, _, err := parseDebArchive(context.Background(), nil, &generic.Environment{},
+		file.LocationReadCloser{
+			Location:   file.NewVirtualLocation("/test.deb", "/test.deb"),
+			ReadCloser: io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(debBytes)),
+		})
+
+	require.NoError(t, err, "the second data.tar.* member must never be reached")
+	require.Len(t, pkgs, 1)
+}
+
+func Test_processDataTar_capsCopyrightFiles(t *testing.T) {
+	// a real .deb ships exactly one copyright file per package; this asserts the walk stops and errors
+	// rather than accumulating an unbounded number of license reads
+	var tarBuf bytes.Buffer
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(&tarBuf)
+	for i := 0; i < maxCopyrightFiles+10; i++ {
+		writeTarEntry(t, tw, fmt.Sprintf("/usr/share/doc/pkg%d/copyright", i), "License: MIT\n")
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, tw.Close())
+
+	_, err := processDataTar(io.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(tarBuf.Bytes())))
+
+	require.Error(t, err)
+}

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/parse_dpkg_db.go

@@ -141,7 +141,12 @@ func (d *dpkgExtractedMetadata) toDpkgEntry() pkg.DpkgDBEntry {
 
 	// there may be an optional conffiles section that we should persist as files
 	if d.Conffiles != "" {
-		entry.Files = parseDpkgConffileInfo(strings.NewReader(d.Conffiles))
+		var err error
+		entry.Files, err = parseDpkgConffileInfo(strings.NewReader(d.Conffiles))
+		if err != nil {
+			// toDpkgEntry has no error return, a log line is all that's available here
+			log.Debugf("dpkg status conffiles field for package %q: %v", d.Package, err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if entry.Files == nil {

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/parse_dpkg_info_files.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package debian
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -9,10 +10,27 @@ import (
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
 )
 
-func parseDpkgMD5Info(reader io.Reader) (findings []pkg.DpkgFileRecord) {
+// maxDpkgFileRecords bounds the file lists parsed out of md5sums and conffiles. A byte cap on the
+// enclosing stream is not enough on its own: the shortest line that still yields a record is 4 bytes,
+// so 16MB of control.tar buys millions of records.
+//
+// The number comes from measuring what a record actually retains, not from the struct size. A
+// DpkgFileRecord is 32 bytes, but a populated one also heap-allocates a file.Digest and three string
+// backing arrays: 121 bytes each with realistic Debian paths, 70 with minimal ones. At this bound that
+// is ~24MB per package, and the effective ceiling is that times cataloger parallelism (NumCPU*4).
+// The largest real Debian packages ship on the order of 10^4 files, so this leaves ~5x headroom.
+const maxDpkgFileRecords = 200_000
+
+// parseDpkgMD5Info returns the records it managed to parse, plus a non-nil error when the record bound
+// was hit (wrapping errClippedFileListing) or the scanner failed partway through.
+func parseDpkgMD5Info(reader io.Reader) ([]pkg.DpkgFileRecord, error) {
+	var findings []pkg.DpkgFileRecord
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(reader)
 
 	for scanner.Scan() {
+		if len(findings) >= maxDpkgFileRecords {
+			return findings, fmt.Errorf("%w: dpkg md5sums listing exceeds %d entries", errClippedFileListing, maxDpkgFileRecords)
+		}
 		line := scanner.Text()
 		fields := strings.SplitN(line, " ", 2)
 		if len(fields) == 2 {
@@ -29,13 +47,22 @@ func parseDpkgMD5Info(reader io.Reader) (findings []pkg.DpkgFileRecord) {
 			})
 		}
 	}
-	return findings
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return findings, fmt.Errorf("failed to scan dpkg md5sums: %w", err)
+	}
+	return findings, nil
 }
 
-func parseDpkgConffileInfo(reader io.Reader) (findings []pkg.DpkgFileRecord) {
+// parseDpkgConffileInfo returns the records it managed to parse, plus a non-nil error when the record
+// bound was hit (wrapping errClippedFileListing) or the scanner failed partway through.
+func parseDpkgConffileInfo(reader io.Reader) ([]pkg.DpkgFileRecord, error) {
+	var findings []pkg.DpkgFileRecord
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(reader)
 
 	for scanner.Scan() {
+		if len(findings) >= maxDpkgFileRecords {
+			return findings, fmt.Errorf("%w: dpkg conffiles listing exceeds %d entries", errClippedFileListing, maxDpkgFileRecords)
+		}
 		line := strings.Trim(scanner.Text(), " \n")
 		fields := strings.SplitN(line, " ", 2)
 
@@ -70,5 +97,8 @@ func parseDpkgConffileInfo(reader io.Reader) (findings []pkg.DpkgFileRecord) {
 			findings = append(findings, record)
 		}
 	}
-	return findings
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return findings, fmt.Errorf("failed to scan dpkg conffiles: %w", err)
+	}
+	return findings, nil
 }

syft/pkg/cataloger/debian/parse_dpkg_info_files_test.go

@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 package debian
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/file"
@@ -45,7 +48,8 @@ func TestMD5SumInfoParsing(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 			t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, f.Close()) })
 
-			actual := parseDpkgMD5Info(f)
+			actual, err := parseDpkgMD5Info(f)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			if diff := cmp.Diff(test.expected, actual); diff != "" {
 				t.Errorf("unexpected md5 files (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
@@ -79,7 +83,8 @@ func TestConffileInfoParsing(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 			t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, f.Close()) })
 
-			actual := parseDpkgConffileInfo(f)
+			actual, err := parseDpkgConffileInfo(f)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			if diff := cmp.Diff(test.expected, actual); diff != "" {
 				t.Errorf("unexpected md5 files (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
@@ -88,3 +93,49 @@ func TestConffileInfoParsing(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_parseDpkgInfoFiles_boundRecordCount(t *testing.T) {
+	// a byte cap on the enclosing stream cannot bound these on its own, since the shortest line that
+	// still yields a record is a few bytes. exercises the real maxDpkgFileRecords const directly, since
+	// the limit is no longer injectable.
+	t.Run("md5sums stops at the record bound", func(t *testing.T) {
+		buf := strings.Repeat("d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  usr/bin/x\n", maxDpkgFileRecords+10)
+
+		got, err := parseDpkgMD5Info(strings.NewReader(buf))
+
+		assert.Len(t, got, maxDpkgFileRecords)
+		require.ErrorIs(t, err, errClippedFileListing)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("conffiles stops at the record bound", func(t *testing.T) {
+		buf := strings.Repeat("/etc/x.conf\n", maxDpkgFileRecords+10)
+
+		got, err := parseDpkgConffileInfo(strings.NewReader(buf))
+
+		assert.Len(t, got, maxDpkgFileRecords)
+		require.ErrorIs(t, err, errClippedFileListing)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a listing under the bound is returned whole", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// guards against the bound clipping legitimate input
+		got, err := parseDpkgMD5Info(strings.NewReader(
+			"d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  usr/bin/a\n" +
+				"d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  usr/bin/b\n"))
+
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, got, 2)
+		assert.Equal(t, "/usr/bin/a", got[0].Path)
+		assert.Equal(t, "/usr/bin/b", got[1].Path)
+	})
+}
+
+func Test_parseDpkgMD5Info_scannerError(t *testing.T) {
+	// a single line longer than bufio.MaxScanTokenSize with no trailing newline trips the scanner's
+	// internal error rather than yielding a clean (and silently incomplete) empty list
+	line := strings.Repeat("a", bufio.MaxScanTokenSize+1)
+
+	got, err := parseDpkgMD5Info(strings.NewReader(line))
+
+	assert.Empty(t, got)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+}