FreeBSD AIO library could allow an attacker to overwrite memory and gain elevated privileges
| bsd-aio-overwrite-memory (7693) |  High Risk |
Description:
A vulnerability in the AIO library in FreeBSD could allow a local attacker to overwrite arbitrary memory locations. The AIO library implements the POSIX standard for asynchronous I/O and can be enabled in FreeBSD by compiling the kernel with the VFS_AIO option. In certain situations, scheduled AIO operations continue after an execve, which causes memory of the new process to be overwritten. A local attacker could create a malicious program that calls a suid program and use this vulnerability to overwrite arbitrary memory locations and gain elevated privileges on the system.
Platforms Affected:
- FreeBSD, FreeBSD 4.4
Remedy:
No remedy available as of July 4, 2009.
Consequences:
Gain Privileges
References:
- BugTraq Mailing List, Mon Dec 10 2001 - 08:43:35 CST, AIO vulnerability at http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2001-12/0090.html.
- BID-3661: FreeBSD AIO Library Cross Process Memory Write Vulnerability
- CVE-2001-1185: Some AIO operations in FreeBSD 4.4 may be delayed until after a call to execve, which could allow a local user to overwrite memory of the new process and gain privileges.
- OSVDB ID: 2001: FreeBSD AIO Library Cross Process Memory Write
Reported:
Dec 10, 2001
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