Memory leak in xen (Alpine package)

1) Memory leak

EUVDB-ID: #VU49135

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-29485

CWE-ID: CWE-401 - Missing release of memory after effective lifetime

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local authenticated user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

xen (Alpine package): 4.6.0-r0 - 4.14.0-r3

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:alpine:xen_alpine_package:4.6.0-r0:*:*:*:*:alpine_linux:*:3.2
• cpe:2.3:o:alpine:xen_alpine_package:4.6.0-r1:*:*:*:*:alpine_linux:*:3.2
• cpe:2.3:o:alpine:xen_alpine_package:4.6.0-r2:*:*:*:*:alpine_linux:*:3.2

External links

https://git.alpinelinux.org/aports/commit/?id=1f5fe5eb0e0bb4588f6b1b8b4e1563293acbb087

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.