CVE-2021-0182 in HAXM
Summary
by MITRE • 11/17/2021
Uncontrolled resource consumption in the Intel(R) HAXM software before version 7.6.6 may allow an unauthenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure via local access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-0182 affects Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager HAXM software versions prior to 7.6.6, representing a significant security concern in virtualization environments. This issue manifests as uncontrolled resource consumption that can potentially lead to information disclosure when exploited by unauthenticated local users. The vulnerability resides within the hypervisor software layer that enables hardware-assisted virtualization on Intel processors, making it particularly concerning for systems that rely on virtualization for security isolation and resource management.
The technical flaw in CVE-2021-0182 stems from inadequate resource management within the HAXM software implementation, where the system fails to properly constrain resource allocation during virtual machine operations. This uncontrolled consumption can manifest as excessive memory usage, CPU resource depletion, or other system resource exhaustion conditions that may inadvertently expose sensitive information through memory corruption or process manipulation. The vulnerability specifically affects the software's handling of virtual machine memory management and execution contexts, creating potential attack vectors for local adversaries who can leverage these resource exhaustion conditions to gain unauthorized access to system information.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses substantial risks to organizations relying on Intel HAXM for virtualization-based security solutions, containerization platforms, or development environments. The local access requirement means that attackers must already have physical or network access to the target system to exploit this vulnerability, but the potential for information disclosure makes it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users share the same physical hardware or where virtual machines contain sensitive data. The vulnerability can potentially lead to privilege escalation, data leakage, or compromise of other virtualized environments running on the same host system, especially when combined with other exploitation techniques.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to Intel HAXM version 7.6.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability, as this represents the official patch release addressing the resource consumption issues. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring for unusual resource consumption patterns on systems running HAXM, particularly focusing on memory and CPU utilization spikes that could indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit local access to systems running virtualization software, while also reviewing existing virtual machine configurations to ensure proper resource limits are enforced. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which addresses uncontrolled resource consumption, and potentially maps to ATT&CK technique T1059 for privilege escalation and T1005 for data harvesting through information discovery methods. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining instances of older HAXM versions within the organization's infrastructure, as continued operation of vulnerable software exposes systems to potential exploitation and data compromise.