In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Fix DEVMAP_HASH overflow check on 32-bit arches
The devmap code allocates a number hash buckets equal to the next power of two of the max_entries value provided when creating the map. When rounding up to the next power of two, the 32-bit variable storing the number of buckets can overflow, and the code checks for overflow by checking if the truncated 32-bit value is equal to 0. However, on 32-bit arches the rounding up itself can overflow mid-way through, because it ends up doing a left-shift of 32 bits on an unsigned long value. If the size of an unsigned long is four bytes, this is undefined behaviour, so there is no guarantee that well end up with a nice and tidy 0-value at the end.
Syzbot managed to turn this into a crash on arm32 by creating a DEVMAP_HASH with max_entries > 0x80000000 and then trying to update it. Fix this by moving the overflow check to before the rounding up operation.
The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux_kernel | Linux | 5.4 (including) | 5.10.214 (excluding) |
| Linux_kernel | Linux | 5.11 (including) | 5.15.153 (excluding) |
| Linux_kernel | Linux | 5.16 (including) | 6.1.83 (excluding) |
| Linux_kernel | Linux | 6.2 (including) | 6.6.23 (excluding) |
| Linux_kernel | Linux | 6.7 (including) | 6.7.11 (excluding) |
| Linux_kernel | Linux | 6.8 (including) | 6.8.2 (excluding) |
Certain languages allow direct addressing of memory locations and do not automatically ensure that these locations are valid for the memory buffer that is being referenced. This can cause read or write operations to be performed on memory locations that may be associated with other variables, data structures, or internal program data. As a result, an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code, alter the intended control flow, read sensitive information, or cause the system to crash.
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].