Linux Kernel up to 5.10.31/5.11/5.11.15 Net Namespace nf_log tcp_allowed_congestion_control null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.31/5.11/5.11.15. This issue affects the function tcp_allowed_congestion_control of the file /proc/sys/net/netfilter/nf_log/ of the component Net Namespace Handler. Performing a manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2021-46912. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.31/5.11/5.11.15 (Operating System). It has been classified as critical. This affects the function tcp_allowed_congestion_control of the file /proc/sys/net/netfilter/nf_log/ of the component Net Namespace Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: Make tcp_allowed_congestion_control readonly in non-init netns Currently, tcp_allowed_congestion_control is global and writable; writing to it in any net namespace will leak into all other net namespaces. tcp_available_congestion_control and tcp_allowed_congestion_control are the only sysctls in ipv4_net_table (the per-netns sysctl table) with a NULL data pointer; their handlers (proc_tcp_available_congestion_control and proc_allowed_congestion_control) have no other way of referencing a struct net. Thus, they operate globally. Because ipv4_net_table does not use designated initializers, there is no easy way to fix up this one "bad" table entry. However, the data pointer updating logic shouldn't be applied to NULL pointers anyway, so we instead force these entries to be read-only. These sysctls used to exist in ipv4_table (init-net only), but they were moved to the per-net ipv4_net_table, presumably without realizing that tcp_allowed_congestion_control was writable and thus introduced a leak. Because the intent of that commit was only to know (i.e. read) "which congestion algorithms are available or allowed", this read-only solution should be sufficient. The logic added in recent commit 31c4d2f160eb: ("net: Ensure net namespace isolation of sysctls") does not and cannot check for NULL data pointers, because other table entries (e.g. /proc/sys/net/netfilter/nf_log/) have .data=NULL but use other methods (.extra2) to access the struct net.

The weakness was released 02/27/2024. The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2021-46912 since 02/25/2024. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 5.10.32, 5.11.16 or 5.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 35d7491e2f77/1ccdf1bed140/97684f0970f6 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.0
• 5.1
• 5.2
• 5.3
• 5.4
• 5.5
• 5.6
• 5.7
• 5.8
• 5.9
• 5.10
• 5.10.0
• 5.10.1
• 5.10.2
• 5.10.3
• 5.10.4
• 5.10.5
• 5.10.6
• 5.10.7
• 5.10.8
• 5.10.9
• 5.10.10
• 5.10.11
• 5.10.12
• 5.10.13
• 5.10.14
• 5.10.15
• 5.10.16
• 5.10.17
• 5.10.18
• 5.10.19
• 5.10.20
• 5.10.21
• 5.10.22
• 5.10.23
• 5.10.24
• 5.10.25
• 5.10.26
• 5.10.27
• 5.10.28
• 5.10.29
• 5.10.30
• 5.10.31
• 5.11
• 5.11.0
• 5.11.1
• 5.11.2
• 5.11.3
• 5.11.4
• 5.11.5
• 5.11.6
• 5.11.7
• 5.11.8
• 5.11.9
• 5.11.10
• 5.11.11
• 5.11.12
• 5.11.13
• 5.11.14
• 5.11.15

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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