CVE-2020-8835
Description
An out-of-bounds access flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s implementation of the eBPF code verifier, where an incorrect register bounds calculation while checking 32-bit instructions in an eBPF program occurs. This flaw allows an unprivileged user or process to execute eBPF programs to crash the kernel, resulting in a denial of service or potentially gaining root privileges on the system.
Statement
This issue does not affect the versions of the kernel package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, 7 and 8 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2.
Mitigation
The Linux kernel versions as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, 7, 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux MRG 2 are not affected because they did not backport the commit
581738a681b6 ("bpf: Provide better register bounds after jmp32 instructions")
which introduced this issue. Also by default unprivileged user are not allowed to access bpf(2) syscall.
Fedora kernel allows unprivileged users to access to bpf(2) syscall by default and is prone to this issue. To disable unprivileged access to bpf(2) sycall set following sysctl(8) variable:
# sysctl -w kernel.unprivileged_bpf_disabled=1
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 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; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Write operations could cause memory corruption. In some cases, an adversary can modify control data such as return addresses in order to execute unexpected code.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
Attempting to access out-of-range, invalid, or unauthorized memory could cause the product to crash.
Other
Technical Impact: Unexpected State
Subsequent write operations can produce undefined or unexpected results.
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