CVE-2024-33599

nscd: Stack-based buffer overflow in netgroup cache

If the Name Service Cache Daemons (nscd) fixed size cache is exhausted by client requests then a subsequent client request for netgroup data may result in a stack-based buffer overflow. This flaw was introduced in glibc 2.15 when the cache was added to nscd.

This vulnerability is only present in the nscd binary.

Weakness

A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function).

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• 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.
• 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].

References

• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/22/5
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/06/msg00026.html
• https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240524-0011/
• https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=blob;f=advisories/GLIBC-SA-2024-0005