CVE-2015-0242
Description
A buffer overflow flaw was found in the PostgreSQL's internal printf() implementation. An authenticated database user could use a specially crafted string in an SQL query to cause PostgreSQL to crash or, potentially, lead to privilege escalation.
Statement
Not vulnerable. This issue does not affect the version of the postgresql package shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, and 7 because it does not use the vulnerable implementation of the snprintf() function provided by postgresql; the glibc implementation of this function, which is not vulnerable to this issue, is used instead.
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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v2 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6 | 6.5 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | N/A |
| Access Complexity | Medium | Low | N/A |
| Authentication | Single | Single | N/A |
| Confidentiality Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
| Availability Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
NVD: AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 PostgreSQL project for reporting this issue. Upstream acknowledges Bruce Momjian as the original reporter.
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