CVE-2018-15499 in Product
Summary
by MITRE
GEAR Software products that include GEARAspiWDM.sys, 2.2.5.0, allow local users to cause a denial of service (Race Condition and BSoD on Windows) by not checking that user-mode memory is available right before writing to it. A check is only performed at the beginning of a long subroutine.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/18/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15499 affects GEAR Software products containing the GEARAspiWDM.sys driver version 2.2.5.0, representing a critical race condition flaw that can be exploited to trigger system instability and denial of service conditions. This issue specifically impacts Windows operating systems where the driver operates at kernel level, making it particularly dangerous as it can lead to system crashes and blue screen of death scenarios. The vulnerability stems from inadequate memory validation practices within the driver's implementation, where memory safety checks are performed only at the commencement of lengthy processes rather than at critical execution points.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the driver's failure to validate user-mode memory availability immediately before writing operations, creating a temporal window where memory can become invalid between the initial check and the actual write operation. This race condition allows local attackers to manipulate memory states through carefully crafted inputs, potentially causing the kernel to attempt writes to freed or unmapped memory regions. The flaw aligns with CWE-362, which describes race conditions in software systems where concurrent operations can lead to unpredictable behavior and system instability. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic example of improper resource management where memory validation occurs too early in the execution cycle, leaving a window for memory corruption.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as it can result in complete system crashes that require manual rebooting and potentially data loss. Attackers can exploit this condition by repeatedly triggering the vulnerable code path, causing the system to become unresponsive and ultimately crash with a blue screen error. The local privilege requirement means that any user with access to the system can potentially exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly concerning for environments where user access controls may not be strictly enforced. From an adversary perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1068, which involves the exploitation of local system vulnerabilities to gain system-level access and execute malicious code.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-15499 should prioritize immediate patching of affected GEAR Software products, as the vendor has likely released updated driver versions that address the race condition through proper memory validation at critical execution points. System administrators should implement monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts and establish baseline system behavior to identify abnormal crash patterns. Additional protective measures include restricting user access to potentially vulnerable systems, implementing application whitelisting policies, and ensuring that all system components are regularly updated with the latest security patches. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper memory management practices in kernel-mode drivers and highlights the necessity of thorough testing for race conditions in system-level software components that handle user input directly.