CVE-2024-26678

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

x86/efistub: Use 1:1 file:memory mapping for PE/COFF .compat section

The .compat section is a dummy PE section that contains the address of the 32-bit entrypoint of the 64-bit kernel image if it is bootable from 32-bit firmware (i.e., CONFIG_EFI_MIXED=y)

This section is only 8 bytes in size and is only referenced from the loader, and so it is placed at the end of the memory view of the image, to avoid the need for padding it to 4k, which is required for sections appearing in the middle of the image.

Unfortunately, this violates the PE/COFF spec, and even if most EFI loaders will work correctly (including the Tianocore reference implementation), PE loaders do exist that reject such images, on the basis that both the file and memory views of the file contents should be described by the section headers in a monotonically increasing manner without leaving any gaps.

So reorganize the sections to avoid this issue. This results in a slight padding overhead (< 4k) which can be avoided if desired by disabling CONFIG_EFI_MIXED (which is only needed in rare cases these days)

Weakness

The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Affected Software

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, many languages that perform their own memory management, such as Java and Perl, are not subject to buffer overflows. Other languages, such as Ada and C#, typically provide overflow protection, but the protection can be disabled by the programmer.

• Be wary that a language’s interface to native code may still be subject to overflows, even if the language itself is theoretically safe.

• Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

• Examples include the Safe C String Library (SafeStr) by Messier and Viega [REF-57], and the Strsafe.h library from Microsoft [REF-56]. These libraries provide safer versions of overflow-prone string-handling functions.

• Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking.

• D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND [REF-1334] discusses canary-based detection in detail.

• Consider adhering to the following rules when allocating and managing an application’s memory:

• Run or compile the software using features or extensions that randomly arrange the positions of a program’s executable and libraries in memory. Because this makes the addresses unpredictable, it can prevent an attacker from reliably jumping to exploitable code.

• Examples include Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) [REF-58] [REF-60] and Position-Independent Executables (PIE) [REF-64]. Imported modules may be similarly realigned if their default memory addresses conflict with other modules, in a process known as “rebasing” (for Windows) and “prelinking” (for Linux) [REF-1332] using randomly generated addresses. ASLR for libraries cannot be used in conjunction with prelink since it would require relocating the libraries at run-time, defeating the whole purpose of prelinking.

• For more information on these techniques see D3-SAOR (Segment Address Offset Randomization) from D3FEND [REF-1335].

• Use a CPU and operating system that offers Data Execution Protection (using hardware NX or XD bits) or the equivalent techniques that simulate this feature in software, such as PaX [REF-60] [REF-61]. These techniques ensure that any instruction executed is exclusively at a memory address that is part of the code segment.

• For more information on these techniques see D3-PSEP (Process Segment Execution Prevention) from D3FEND [REF-1336].

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a962f2fbaa976af9eed21d0306370cded485787
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ad55cecf22f05f1c884adf63cc09d3c3e609ebf
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4adeeff8c12321cd453412a659c3c0eeb9bb2397
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d327e961573fc335af0ae8a160302205327e1f4e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a962f2fbaa976af9eed21d0306370cded485787
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ad55cecf22f05f1c884adf63cc09d3c3e609ebf
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4adeeff8c12321cd453412a659c3c0eeb9bb2397
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d327e961573fc335af0ae8a160302205327e1f4e