#VU79585 NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2023-3106

Vulnerability identifier: #VU79585

Vulnerability 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-2023-3106

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error within the netlink_dump() function when the Netlink socket receives the message(sendmsg) for the XFRM_MSG_GETSA, XFRM_MSG_GETPOLICY type message, and the DUMP flag is set. A local user can pass specially crafted messages to the socket and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: before 4.8, 4.8

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External links
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2221501
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/1ba5bf993c6a3142e18e68ea6452b347f9cb5635
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-3106

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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.