Vulnerabilities
Misconfiguration
Runtime Security
Compliance
CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2018-10901

Improper Initialization

Published: Jul 26, 2018 | Modified: Nov 21, 2024
CVSS 3.x
7.8
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
7.2 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
7.8 IMPORTANT
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Ubuntu
HIGH
Additional information
NVDhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-10901
CWEhttps://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/665.html

A flaw was found in Linux kernels KVM virtualization subsystem. The VMX code does not restore the GDT.LIMIT to the previous host value, but instead sets it to 64KB. With a corrupted GDT limit a hosts userspace code has an ability to place malicious entries in the GDT, particularly to the per-cpu variables. An attacker can use this to escalate their privileges.

Weakness

The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Linux_kernel Linux * 2.6.36 (excluding)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 RedHat kernel-0:2.6.32-754.3.5.el6 *
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 Advanced Update Support RedHat kernel-0:2.6.32-358.91.4.el6 *
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 Advanced Update Support RedHat kernel-0:2.6.32-431.91.3.el6 *
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6 Advanced Update Support RedHat kernel-0:2.6.32-504.72.4.el6 *
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6 Telco Extended Update Support RedHat kernel-0:2.6.32-504.72.4.el6 *
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.7 Extended Update Support RedHat kernel-0:2.6.32-573.60.4.el6 *
Linux-aws Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-azure-edge Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-azure-edge Ubuntu esm-infra/bionic *
Linux-azure-edge Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-euclid Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-flo Ubuntu esm-apps/xenial *
Linux-flo Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-flo Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-flo Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-gcp Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gke Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-gke Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-goldfish Ubuntu esm-apps/xenial *
Linux-goldfish Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-goldfish Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-goldfish Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-grouper Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-grouper Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu bionic *
Linux-hwe-edge Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-kvm Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lts-trusty Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lts-utopic Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-lts-utopic Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lts-vivid Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-lts-vivid Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lts-wily Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-lts-wily Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-maguro Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-maguro Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-mako Ubuntu esm-apps/xenial *
Linux-mako Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-mako Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-mako Ubuntu xenial *
Linux-manta Ubuntu trusty *
Linux-manta Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-oem Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-raspi2 Ubuntu upstream *
Linux-snapdragon Ubuntu upstream *

Potential Mitigations

  • Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
  • For example, in Java, if the programmer does not explicitly initialize a variable, then the code could produce a compile-time error (if the variable is local) or automatically initialize the variable to the default value for the variable’s type. In Perl, if explicit initialization is not performed, then a default value of undef is assigned, which is interpreted as 0, false, or an equivalent value depending on the context in which the variable is accessed.

References

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