Linux Kernel up to 5.15.18/5.16.4 ARM null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.18/5.16.4. This impacts an unknown function of the component ARM. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2021-47618. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.18/5.16.4. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component ARM. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is 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. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ARM: 9170/1: fix panic when kasan and kprobe are enabled arm32 uses software to simulate the instruction replaced by kprobe. some instructions may be simulated by constructing assembly functions. therefore, before executing instruction simulation, it is necessary to construct assembly function execution environment in C language through binding registers. after kasan is enabled, the register binding relationship will be destroyed, resulting in instruction simulation errors and causing kernel panic. the kprobe emulate instruction function is distributed in three files: actions-common.c actions-arm.c actions-thumb.c, so disable KASAN when compiling these files. for example, use kprobe insert on cap_capable+20 after kasan enabled, the cap_capable assembly code is as follows: : e92d47f0 push {r4, r5, r6, r7, r8, r9, sl, lr} e1a05000 mov r5, r0 e280006c add r0, r0, #108 ; 0x6c e1a04001 mov r4, r1 e1a06002 mov r6, r2 e59fa090 ldr sl, [pc, #144] ; ebfc7bf8 bl c03aa4b4 e595706c ldr r7, [r5, #108] ; 0x6c e2859014 add r9, r5, #20 ...... The emulate_ldr assembly code after enabling kasan is as follows: c06f1384 : e92d47f0 push {r4, r5, r6, r7, r8, r9, sl, lr} e282803c add r8, r2, #60 ; 0x3c e1a05000 mov r5, r0 e7e37855 ubfx r7, r5, #16, #4 e1a00008 mov r0, r8 e1a09001 mov r9, r1 e1a04002 mov r4, r2 ebf35462 bl c03c6530 e357000f cmp r7, #15 e7e36655 ubfx r6, r5, #12, #4 e205a00f and sl, r5, #15 0a000001 beq c06f13bc e0840107 add r0, r4, r7, lsl #2 ebf3545c bl c03c6530 e084010a add r0, r4, sl, lsl #2 ebf3545a bl c03c6530 e2890010 add r0, r9, #16 ebf35458 bl c03c6530 e5990010 ldr r0, [r9, #16] e12fff30 blx r0 e356000f cm r6, #15 1a000014 bne c06f1430 e1a06000 mov r6, r0 e2840040 add r0, r4, #64 ; 0x40 ...... when running in emulate_ldr to simulate the ldr instruction, panic occurred, and the log is as follows: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000090 pgd = ecb46400 [00000090] *pgd=2e0fa003, *pmd=00000000 Internal error: Oops: 206 [#1] SMP ARM PC is at cap_capable+0x14/0xb0 LR is at emulate_ldr+0x50/0xc0 psr: 600d0293 sp : ecd63af8 ip : 00000004 fp : c0a7c30c r10: 00000000 r9 : c30897f4 r8 : ecd63cd4 r7 : 0000000f r6 : 0000000a r5 : e59fa090 r4 : ecd63c98 r3 : c06ae294 r2 : 00000000 r1 : b7611300 r0 : bf4ec008 Flags: nZCv IRQs off FIQs on Mode SVC_32 ISA ARM Segment user Control: 32c5387d Table: 2d546400 DAC: 55555555 Process bash (pid: 1643, stack limit = 0xecd60190) (cap_capable) from (kprobe_handler+0x218/0x340) (kprobe_handler) from (kprobe_trap_handler+0x24/0x48) (kprobe_trap_handler) from (do_undefinstr+0x13c/0x364) (do_undefinstr) from (__und_svc_finish+0x0/0x30) (__und_svc_finish) from (cap_capable+0x18/0xb0) (cap_capable) from (cap_vm_enough_memory+0x38/0x48) (cap_vm_enough_memory) from (security_vm_enough_memory_mm+0x48/0x6c) (security_vm_enough_memory_mm) from (copy_process.constprop.5+0x16b4/0x25c8) (copy_process.constprop.5) from (_do_fork+0xe8/0x55c) (_do_fork) from (SyS_clone+0x1c/0x24) (SyS_clone) from (__sys_trace_return+0x0/0x10) Code: 0050a0e1 6c0080e2 0140a0e1 0260a0e1 (f801f0e7)

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2021-47618 since 06/19/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available.

Upgrading to version 5.15.19 or 5.16.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 1515e72aae80/ba1863be105b/8b59b0a53c84 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.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-1418). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• IBM InfoSphere Guardium
• Oracle Linux
• Oracle VM
• IBM Security Guardium
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Broadcom Brocade SANnav
• Dell NetWorker
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell Avamar
• IBM Storage Scale
• Juniper Junos Space
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.16.0
• 5.16.1
• 5.16.2
• 5.16.3
• 5.16.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion