CVE-2021-4001
Description
A race condition was found in the Linux kernel's ebpf verifier between bpf_map_update_elem and bpf_map_freeze due to a missing lock in kernel/bpf/syscall.c. In this flaw, a local user with a special privilege (cap_sys_admin or cap_bpf) can modify the frozen mapped address space.
Statement
The default Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel prevents unprivileged users from being able to use eBPF by the kernel.unprivileged_bpf_disabled sysctl. This would require a privileged user with CAP_SYS_ADMIN or root to be able to abuse this flaw reducing its attack space.
For the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 the eBPF for unprivileged users is always disabled.
For the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 to confirm the current state, inspect the sysctl with the command:
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_bpf_disabled
The setting of 1 would mean that unprivileged users can not use eBPF, mitigating the flaw.
A kernel update will be required to mitigate the flaw for the root or users with CAP_SYS_ADMIN capabilities.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.
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 | 6.7 | 4.1 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | High | N/A |
| Privileges Required | High | High | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | None | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | None | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Other
Technical Impact: Alter Execution Logic; Unexpected State
The attacker can gain access to otherwise unauthorized resources.
Integrity,Other
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Modify Files or Directories; Modify Memory; Other
Race conditions such as this kind may be employed to gain read or write access to resources which are not normally readable or writable by the user in question.
Integrity,Other
Technical Impact: Other
The resource in question, or other resources (through the corrupted one), may be changed in undesirable ways by a malicious user.
Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Hide Activities
If a file or other resource is written in this method, as opposed to in a valid way, logging of the activity may not occur.
Non-Repudiation,Other
Technical Impact: Other
In some cases it may be possible to delete files a malicious user might not otherwise have access to, such as log files.
Other
Technical Impact: Unexpected State
The product may perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank anciety@starcross, swing@chaitin, and w1tcher@w1tcherSun for reporting this issue.
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