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Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

CVE-2009-2695

High
7.2/10

Summary

The Linux kernel before 2.6.31-rc7 does not properly prevent mmap operations that target page zero and other low memory addresses, which allows local users to gain privileges by exploiting NULL pointer dereference vulnerabilities, related to (1) the default configuration of the allow_unconfined_mmap_low boolean in SELinux on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5, (2) an error that causes allow_unconfined_mmap_low to be ignored in the unconfined_t domain, (3) lack of a requirement for the CAP_SYS_RAWIO capability for these mmap operations, and (4) interaction between the mmap_min_addr protection mechanism and certain application programs.

  • LOW
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • COMPLETE
  • COMPLETE
  • COMPLETE

CWE-119 - Buffer Overflow

Buffer overflow attacks involve data transit and operations exceeding the restricted memory buffer, thereby corrupting or overwriting data in adjacent memory locations. Such overflow allows the attacker to run arbitrary code or manipulate the existing code to cause privilege escalation, data breach, denial of service, system crash and even complete system compromise. Given that languages such as C and C++ lack default safeguards against overwriting or accessing data in their memory, applications utilizing these languages are most susceptible to buffer overflows attacks.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published