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Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

CVE-2015-3331

High
9.3/10

Summary

The __driver_rfc4106_decrypt function in arch/x86/crypto/aesni-intel_glue.c in the Linux kernel before 3.19.3 does not properly determine the memory locations used for encrypted data, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer overflow and system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code by triggering a crypto API call, as demonstrated by use of a libkcapi test program with an AF_ALG(aead) socket.

  • MEDIUM
  • NETWORK
  • 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