News
Vigil@nce: Linux kernel, denial of service via ptrace
June 2008 by Vigil@nce
SYNTHESIS
A local attacker can create a denial of service with a program
using PTRACE_ATTACH and PTRACE_DETACH.
Gravity: 1/4
Consequences: denial of service of computer
Provenance: user shell
Means of attack: no proof of concept, no attack
Ability of attacker: expert (4/4)
Confidence: confirmed by the editor (5/5)
Diffusion of the vulnerable configuration: high (3/3)
Creation date: 26/06/2008
Identifier: VIGILANCE-VUL-7912
IMPACTED PRODUCTS
– Linux kernel [confidential versions]
– Red Hat Enterprise Linux [confidential versions]
DESCRIPTION
The systrace() system call permits to track and control execution
of a process. Its first parameter indicates the action to achieve:
– PTRACE_ATTACH : attach the process
– PTRACE_SINGLESTEP : execute one instruction
– PTRACE_DETACH : detach from the process
When a program simultaneously uses PTRACE_ATTACH and
PTRACE_DETACH, a NULL pointer is dereferenced, which stops the
kernel.
A local attacker can therefore create a denial of service.
CHARACTERISTICS
Identifiers: 449359, BID-29945, CVE-2008-2365, RHSA-2008:0508-01,
VIGILANCE-VUL-7912
