CVE-2023-6817
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Description
A use-after-free flaw was found in the Netfilter subsystem in the Linux kernel via the nft_pipapo_walk function. This issue may allow a local user with CAP_NET_ADMIN capability to trigger an application crash, information disclosure, or local privilege escalation.
Statement
Only local users with CAP_NET_ADMIN capability or root can trigger this issue.
On Red Hat Enterprise Linux, local unprivileged users can exploit unprivileged user namespaces (CONFIG_USER_NS) to grant themselves this capability.
The OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) control planes or master machines are based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) that consists primarily of RHEL components, therefore, it is also affected by this kernel vulnerability. A successful exploit needs necessary privileges (CAP_NET_ADMIN) and direct, local access. A local user in RHCOS is already a root with full permissions, hence existence of this vulnerability does not bring any value from the potential attacker perspective. From the OpenShift containers perspective, this vulnerability cannot be exploited as in OpenShift the cluster processes on the node are namespaced, which means that switching the namespace in the running OpenShift container will not bring necessary capabilities. This means that for OpenShift, the impact of this vulnerability is Low.
Similar to the CVE-2023-32233 vulnerability, this has been explained in the following blog post as an example of a "Container escape vulnerability": https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/containers-vulnerability-risk-assessment
Mitigation
In order to trigger the issue, it requires the ability to create user/net namespaces.
On non-containerized deployments of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, you can disable user namespaces by setting user.max_user_namespaces to 0:
# echo "user.max_user_namespaces=0" > /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf
# sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf
On containerized deployments, such as Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, do not use this mitigation as the functionality is needed to be enabled.
Additional information
- Bugzilla 2255139: kernel: inactive elements in nft_pipapo_walk
- CWE-416: Use After Free
- FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2023-6817
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
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).
| Red Hat | NVD | |
|---|---|---|
CVSS v3 Base Score | 7.8 | 7.8 |
Attack Vector | Local | Local |
Attack Complexity | Low | Low |
Privileges Required | Low | Low |
User Interaction | None | None |
Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged |
Confidentiality Impact | High | High |
Integrity Impact | High | High |
Availability Impact | High | High |
CVSS v3 Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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.
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.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Xingyuan Mo of IceSword Lab for reporting this issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?
My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?
What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?
What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?
What is a mitigation?
I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?
Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?
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