🇰🇷 한글 설명
Linux 커널의 ethtool 구성 요소에서 통계 쿼리 시 사용자 공간 버퍼 오버플로가 발생할 수 있는 취약점입니다. 장치 재설정 등으로 인해 ioctl 호출 간 통계 개수가 변할 경우, 잘못된 버퍼 할당으로 인해 메모리 오버플로가 발생할 수 있습니다.
💡 쉬운 설명
네트워크 장치의 정보를 가져오는 과정에서 정보의 개수가 갑자기 바뀌면 컴퓨터 메모리가 넘쳐흐를 수 있는 문제입니다. 이로 인해 시스템이 불안정해지거나 보안 문제가 생길 수 있습니다.
🇺🇸 원문 (English)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ethtool: Avoid overflowing userspace buffer on stats query
The ethtool -S command operates across three ioctl calls:
ETHTOOL_GSSET_INFO for the size, ETHTOOL_GSTRINGS for the names, and
ETHTOOL_GSTATS for the values.
If the number of stats changes between these calls (e.g., due to device
reconfiguration), userspace's buffer allocation will be incorrect,
potentially leading to buffer overflow.
Drivers are generally expected to maintain stable stat counts, but some
drivers (e.g., mlx5, bnx2x, bna, ksz884x) use dynamic counters, making
this scenario possible.
Some drivers try to handle this internally:
- bnad_get_ethtool_stats() returns early in case stats.n_stats is not
equal to the driver's stats count.
- micrel/ksz884x also makes sure not to write anything beyond
stats.n_stats and overflow the buffer.
However, both use stats.n_stats which is already assigned with the value
returned from get_sset_count(), hence won't solve the issue described
here.
Change ethtool_get_strings(), ethtool_get_stats(),
ethtool_get_phy_stats() to not return anything in case of a mismatch
between userspace's size and get_sset_size(), to prevent buffer
overflow.
The returned n_stats value will be equal to zero, to reflect that
nothing has been returned.
This could result in one of two cases when using upstream ethtool,
depending on when the size change is detected:
1. When detected in ethtool_get_strings():
# ethtool -S eth2
no stats available
2. When detected in get stats, all stats will be reported as zero.
Both cases are presumably transient, and a subsequent ethtool call
should succeed.
Other than the overflow avoidance, these two cases are very evident (no
output/cleared stats), which is arguably better than presenting
incorrect/shifted stats.
I also considered returning an error instead of a "silent" response, but
that seems more destructive towards userspace apps.
Notes:
- This patch does not claim to fix the inherent race, it only makes sure
that we do not overflow the userspace buffer, and makes for a more
predictable behavior.
- RTNL lock is held during each ioctl, the race window exists between
the separate ioctl calls when the lock is released.
- Userspace ethtool always fills stats.n_stats, but it is likely that
these stats ioctls are implemented in other userspace applications
which might not fill it. The added code checks that it's not zero,
to prevent any regressions.
📍 영향받는 시스템
Linux kernel (ethtool 관련 드라이버 사용 시스템, 특히 mlx5, bnx2x, bna, ksz884x 등 동적 카운터를 사용하는 드라이버)
⚔️ 공격 벡터
네트워크 장치의 설정을 동적으로 변경하여 통계 개수 불일치를 유도함으로써 사용자 공간 버퍼 오버플로 유발
🛡️ 대응 방법
Linux 커널을 최신 보안 패치가 적용된 버전으로 업데이트하여 ethtool 관련 ioctl 로직을 수정해야 합니다.
🔧 검증 코드
출력된 커널 버전이 해당 취약점이 해결된 패치 버전 이후인지 확인합니다.