CVE-2016-10253 in Erlang-OTP
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Erlang/OTP 18.x. Erlang's generation of compiled regular expressions is vulnerable to a heap overflow. Regular expressions using a malformed extpattern can indirectly specify an offset that is used as an array index. This ordinal permits arbitrary regions within the erts_alloc arena to be both read and written to.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/10/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-10253 represents a critical heap overflow flaw within Erlang/OTP version 18.x, specifically affecting the regular expression compilation mechanism. This issue stems from inadequate validation of malformed extpattern constructs during the compilation process of regular expressions, creating a condition where attacker-controlled input can manipulate memory access patterns. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of software security and memory management, where the Erlang runtime environment fails to properly bounds-check array indices derived from user-supplied regular expression patterns, leading to potential memory corruption and arbitrary code execution.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of extpattern structures within regular expression compilation, where a malformed pattern can indirectly specify an offset value that serves as an array index. This offset calculation bypasses normal memory access controls, allowing malicious actors to target arbitrary memory regions within the erts_alloc arena, which is the memory allocation subsystem used by Erlang's runtime. The flaw specifically relates to how the Erlang compiler processes and validates regular expression patterns, creating a scenario where memory access operations can be redirected to locations outside the intended bounds, effectively enabling both read and write operations against arbitrary memory addresses.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple memory corruption, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform arbitrary memory read and write operations within the Erlang runtime environment. This capability can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or cause denial of service conditions, depending on the target system's configuration and the attacker's objectives. The vulnerability affects systems running Erlang/OTP 18.x versions, which were widely deployed in telecommunications, distributed computing, and web application environments where Erlang's concurrency model and fault-tolerance features were utilized. Security researchers have categorized this vulnerability under CWE-121, heap-based buffer overflow, and it aligns with ATT&CK techniques involving memory corruption and privilege escalation through software exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Erlang/OTP installations to version 18.3.3 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for the regular expression compilation logic. Organizations should also implement runtime monitoring to detect anomalous memory access patterns and consider restricting regular expression usage in applications where untrusted input is processed. Network segmentation and application-level input validation can serve as additional defensive measures, though the most effective approach remains the timely application of vendor-provided security updates. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and memory safety in interpreted languages, particularly those with complex compilation and runtime environments like Erlang's virtual machine architecture.