CVE-2016-0723
Description
A use-after-free flaw was discovered in the Linux kernel's tty subsystem, which allows for the disclosure of uncontrolled memory location and possible kernel panic. The information leak is caused by a race condition when attempting to set and read the tty line discipline. A local attacker could use the TIOCSETD (via tty_set_ldisc) to switch to a new line discipline; a concurrent call to a TIOCGETD ioctl performing a read on a given tty could then access previously allocated memory. Up to 4 bytes could be leaked when querying the line discipline or the kernel could panic with a NULL-pointer dereference.
Statement
This issue affects kernels in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6 and 7. This has been rated as having Moderate security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
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 | 5.6 | 5.6 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Access Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Authentication | None | None | N/A |
| Confidentiality Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | N/A |
| Availability Impact | Complete | Complete | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:C
NVD: AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:C
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.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Milos Vyletel (Red Hat).
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