CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-29562

Reachable Assertion

Published: Dec 04, 2020 | Modified: Nov 07, 2023
CVSS 3.x
4.8
MEDIUM
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.x
2.1 LOW
AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

The iconv function in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.30 to 2.32, when converting UCS4 text containing an irreversible character, fails an assertion in the code path and aborts the program, potentially resulting in a denial of service.

Weakness

The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Glibc Gnu 2.30 (including) 2.32 (including)

Extended Description

While assertion is good for catching logic errors and reducing the chances of reaching more serious vulnerability conditions, it can still lead to a denial of service. For example, if a server handles multiple simultaneous connections, and an assert() occurs in one single connection that causes all other connections to be dropped, this is a reachable assertion that leads to a denial of service.

Potential Mitigations

References