CVE-2013-2850

Description

From CVE.org

Heap-based buffer overflow in the iscsi_add_notunderstood_response function in drivers/target/iscsi/iscsi_target_parameters.c in the iSCSI target subsystem in the Linux kernel through 3.9.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and OOPS) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a long key that is not properly handled during construction of an error-response packet.

Statement

This issue does not affect the versions of the Linux kernel as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6 as those versions do not provide support for in-kernel iSCSI target.

Future kernel updates in Red Hat Enterprise Linux MRG 2 may address this flaw.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v2 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.87.9N/A
Attack VectorAdjacent NetworkAdjacent NetworkN/A
Access ComplexityHighMediumN/A
AuthenticationNoneNoneN/A
Confidentiality ImpactCompleteCompleteN/A
Integrity ImpactCompleteCompleteN/A
Availability ImpactCompleteCompleteN/A

Vector

Red Hat: AV:A/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

NVD: AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)

Buffer overflows generally lead to crashes. Other attacks leading to lack of availability are possible, including putting the program into an infinite loop.

Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Modify Memory

Buffer overflows often can be used to execute arbitrary code, which is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy. Besides important user data, heap-based overflows can be used to overwrite function pointers that may be living in memory, pointing it to the attacker's code. Even in applications that do not explicitly use function pointers, the run-time will usually leave many in memory. For example, object methods in C++ are generally implemented using function pointers. Even in C programs, there is often a global offset table used by the underlying runtime.

Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control,Other

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Other

When the consequence is arbitrary code execution, this can often be used to subvert any other security service.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Kees Cook for reporting this issue.

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