FreeBSD procfs Denial of Service Vulnerability

BID:2131

Info

FreeBSD procfs Denial of Service Vulnerability

Bugtraq ID: 2131
Class: Failure to Handle Exceptional Conditions
CVE:
Remote: No
Local: Yes
Published: Dec 18 2000 12:00AM
Updated: Dec 18 2000 12:00AM
Credit: This vulnerability was first discovered by Joost Pol <[email protected]> and Frank van Vliet <[email protected]>. It was announced in a FreeBSD Security Advisory to Bugtraq on December 18, 2000.
Vulnerable: FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.2
FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1.1
FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1
FreeBSD FreeBSD 3.5.1
Not Vulnerable:

Discussion

FreeBSD procfs Denial of Service Vulnerability

procfs is the Process Filesystem, a file system interface to the process table included with the FreeBSD Operating System. A problem exists which could allow a local user to deny service to legitimate users of a FreeBSD Server.

The problem occurs in the handling of /proc/<process id>/mem files. It is possible to launch a process which executes an mmap() system call and maps the memory address of it's own memory address space, as defined in /proc/<process id>mem. By doing so, the kernel enters an infinite loop and hangs, requiring a system reboot at the console. This problem with design makes it possible for a local user with malicious intent to crash the system, thus denying service to legitimate users.

Exploit / POC

FreeBSD procfs Denial of Service Vulnerability

Currently the SecurityFocus staff are not aware of any exploits for this issue. If you feel we are in error or are aware of more recent information, please mail us at: [email protected].

Solution / Fix

FreeBSD procfs Denial of Service Vulnerability

Solution:
The FreeBSD Security Team has supplied a patch for this issue. It is recommended that users of the affected versions of the Operating System upgrade to a revision after the fix date, or apply the patch to the source tree and rebuild the system.

Patches:


FreeBSD FreeBSD 3.5.1

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1.1

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.2

References

FreeBSD procfs Denial of Service Vulnerability

References:
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