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Vigil@nce - Linux kernel: denial of service via hugetlb_vmtruncate_list
February 2016 by Vigil@nce
This bulletin was written by Vigil@nce : https://vigilance.fr/offer
SYNTHESIS OF THE VULNERABILITY
A local attacker can force an assertion error via
hugetlb_vmtruncate_list() in the Linux kernel, in order to trigger
a denial of service.
Impacted products: Linux.
Severity: 1/4.
Creation date: 08/02/2016.
DESCRIPTION OF THE VULNERABILITY
The Linux kernel can manipulate memory pages with a large size
(HugeTLB - Translation Lookaside Buffer).
The hugetlb_vmdelete_list() function of the fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c
file manipulates memory pages, and it is used to fill holes.
However, when a hugetlbfs file is truncated, some pages are not
freed. An assertion error then occurs because developers did not
except this case, which stops the kernel.
A local attacker can therefore force an assertion error via
hugetlb_vmtruncate_list() in the Linux kernel, in order to trigger
a denial of service.
ACCESS TO THE COMPLETE VIGIL@NCE BULLETIN
https://vigilance.fr/vulnerability/Linux-kernel-denial-of-service-via-hugetlb-vmtruncate-list-18894
