CVE-2020-12657
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's implementation of the BFQ IO scheduler. This flaw allows a local user able to groom system memory to cause kernel memory corruption and possible privilege escalation by abusing a race condition in the IO scheduler.
Mitigation
The default io scheduler for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 is the mq-deadline scheduler, however it can be
configured to any of the available schedulers available on the system on a per-device basis.
The schedulers in use can be verified by the block devices entry in sysfs, for example for "sda":
# cat /sys/block/sda/queue/scheduler
[mq-deadline] kyber bfq none
All block devices in the system will need to be changed to be mitigated. If the system workload requires
bfq, this may not be an acceptable workaround however some systems may find changing io schedulers to be an
acceptable workaround until system updates can be applied.
See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/3756041 for how to configure the io scheduler persistently across
system reboots or contact Red Hat Global Support Services.
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 v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7 | 7.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory
The use of previously freed memory may corrupt valid data, if the memory area in question has been allocated and used properly elsewhere.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If chunk consolidation occurs after the use of previously freed data, the process may crash when invalid data is used as chunk information.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
Read operations on freed memory can sometimes leak sensitive information instead of causing a crash
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If malicious data is entered before chunk consolidation can take place, it may be possible to take advantage of a write-what-where primitive to execute arbitrary code. If the newly allocated data happens to hold a class, in C++ for example, various function pointers may be scattered within the heap data. If one of these function pointers is overwritten with an address to valid shellcode, execution of arbitrary code can be achieved.
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