CVE-2019-14835

Description

A buffer overflow flaw was found in the way Linux kernel's vhost functionality that translates virtqueue buffers to IOVs, logged the buffer descriptors during migration. A privileged guest user able to pass descriptors with invalid length to the host when migration is underway, could use this flaw to increase their privileges on the host. In the worst case (and likely most common virtualization) scenario this flaw affects KVM/qemu hypervisor enabled hosts running Linux guests.

Statement

Red Hat Product Security is aware of this issue. Updates will be released as they become available. For additional information, please refer to the Red Hat Knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/kernel-vhost

Mitigation

For mitigation related information, please refer to the Red Hat Knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/kernel-vhost

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 Score7.27.8N/A
Attack VectorLocalLocalN/A
Attack ComplexityHighLowN/A
Privileges RequiredHighLowN/A
User InteractionRequiredNoneN/A
ScopeChangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityHighHighN/A
Integrity ImpactHighHighN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/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,Confidentiality,Availability

Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Buffer overflows often can be used to execute arbitrary code, which is usually outside the scope of the product's implicit security policy. This can often be used to subvert any other security service.

Availability

Technical Impact: Modify Memory; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)

Buffer overflows generally lead to crashes. Other attacks leading to lack of availability are possible, including putting the product into an infinite loop.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Peter Pi (Tencent Blade Team) for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

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