CVE-2024-1085

Description

A double-free flaw was found in how the Linux kernel's NetFilter system marks whether a catch-all element is enabled. A local user could use this flaw to crash the system.

Statement

This flaw is rated as a having Moderate impact, because it can only be exploited by a local user with access to netfilter.

Mitigation

1. This flaw can be mitigated by preventing the affected netfilter (nf_tables) kernel module from being loaded. For instructions on how to blacklist a kernel module, please see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278.

2. If the module cannot be disabled, on non-containerized deployments of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the mitigation is to disable user namespaces:

# 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 the second mitigation (disabling user namespaces) as the user namespaces are required for container functionality. The first mitigation (blacklisting nf_tables) is still viable for containerized deployments, providing the environment is not using netfilter.

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 HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.67.8N/A
Attack VectorLocalLocalN/A
Attack ComplexityLowLowN/A
Privileges RequiredLowLowN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityLowHighN/A
Integrity ImpactLowHighN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

Because the flaw is in netfilter logic and cannot lead to a kernel crash, Red Hat considers the Confidentiality and Integrity metrics Low.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

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