Heap-Based Buffer Overflow in read_1_byte (Dwarf2.c) of binutils

vendor:

binutils

by:

A. Große

7,8

CVSS

HIGH

Heap-Based Buffer Overflow

119

CWE

Product Name: binutils

Affected Version From: binutils < 2.29.1

Affected Version To: binutils >= 2.29.1

Patch Exists: YES

Related CWE: N/A

CPE: a:gnu:binutils

Metasploit: N/A

Other Scripts: N/A

Tags: N/A

CVSS Metrics: N/A

Nuclei References: N/A

Nuclei Metadata: N/A

Platforms Tested: Linux

2017

Heap-Based Buffer Overflow in read_1_byte (Dwarf2.c) of binutils

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability was discovered in the read_1_byte function of Dwarf2.c in binutils. The vulnerability occurs when a specially crafted ELF file is processed by the nm utility. The read_1_byte function reads a single byte from a buffer, but does not check if the requested byte is within the bounds of the buffer. This can lead to a heap-based buffer overflow, which can be exploited to execute arbitrary code.

Mitigation:

Users should upgrade to the latest version of binutils.

Source

Exploit-DB raw data:

Source: https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2017/09/26/binutils-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-read_1_byte-dwarf2-c/

Description:
binutils is a set of tools necessary to build programs.

The complete ASan output of the issue:

# nm -A -a -l -S -s --special-syms --synthetic --with-symbol-versions -D $FILE
==3235==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow on address 0x613000000512 at pc 0x7f7c93ae3c88 bp 0x7ffe38d7a970 sp 0x7ffe38d7a968
READ of size 1 at 0x613000000512 thread T0
    #0 0x7f7c93ae3c87 in read_1_byte /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:616:10
    #1 0x7f7c93ae3c87 in decode_line_info /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:2311
    #2 0x7f7c93aee92b in comp_unit_maybe_decode_line_info /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:3608:26
    #3 0x7f7c93aee92b in comp_unit_find_line /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:3643
    #4 0x7f7c93aeb94f in _bfd_dwarf2_find_nearest_line /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:4755:11
    #5 0x7f7c93a2920b in _bfd_elf_find_line /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/elf.c:8694:10
    #6 0x517c83 in print_symbol /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1003:9
    #7 0x51542d in print_symbols /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1084:7
    #8 0x51542d in display_rel_file /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1200
    #9 0x510f56 in display_file /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1318:7
    #10 0x50faae in main /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1792:12
    #11 0x7f7c9296e680 in __libc_start_main /var/tmp/portage/sys-libs/glibc-2.23-r4/work/glibc-2.23/csu/../csu/libc-start.c:289
    #12 0x41ac18 in _init (/usr/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/binutils-bin/git/nm+0x41ac18)

0x613000000512 is located 0 bytes to the right of 338-byte region [0x6130000003c0,0x613000000512)
allocated by thread T0 here:
    #0 0x4d8e08 in malloc /var/tmp/portage/sys-libs/compiler-rt-sanitizers-5.0.0/work/compiler-rt-5.0.0.src/lib/asan/asan_malloc_linux.cc:67
    #1 0x7f7c9393a37c in bfd_malloc /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/libbfd.c:193:9
    #2 0x7f7c9392fb2f in bfd_get_full_section_contents /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/compress.c:248:21
    #3 0x7f7c939696d3 in bfd_simple_get_relocated_section_contents /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/simple.c:193:12
    #4 0x7f7c93ade26e in read_section /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:556:8
    #5 0x7f7c93adef3c in decode_line_info /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:2047:9
    #6 0x7f7c93aee92b in comp_unit_maybe_decode_line_info /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:3608:26
    #7 0x7f7c93aee92b in comp_unit_find_line /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:3643
    #8 0x7f7c93aeb94f in _bfd_dwarf2_find_nearest_line /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:4755:11
    #9 0x7f7c93a2920b in _bfd_elf_find_line /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/elf.c:8694:10
    #10 0x517c83 in print_symbol /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1003:9
    #11 0x51542d in print_symbols /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1084:7
    #12 0x51542d in display_rel_file /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1200
    #13 0x510f56 in display_file /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1318:7
    #14 0x50faae in main /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/binutils/nm.c:1792:12
    #15 0x7f7c9296e680 in __libc_start_main /var/tmp/portage/sys-libs/glibc-2.23-r4/work/glibc-2.23/csu/../csu/libc-start.c:289

SUMMARY: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow /var/tmp/portage/sys-devel/binutils-9999/work/binutils/bfd/dwarf2.c:616:10 in read_1_byte
Shadow bytes around the buggy address:
  0x0c267fff8050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  0x0c267fff8060: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 fa fa fa fa
  0x0c267fff8070: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  0x0c267fff8080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  0x0c267fff8090: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
=>0x0c267fff80a0: 00 00[02]fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x0c267fff80b0: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x0c267fff80c0: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x0c267fff80d0: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x0c267fff80e0: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x0c267fff80f0: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Shadow byte legend (one shadow byte represents 8 application bytes):
  Addressable:           00
  Partially addressable: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 
  Heap left redzone:       fa
  Freed heap region:       fd
  Stack left redzone:      f1
  Stack mid redzone:       f2
  Stack right redzone:     f3
  Stack after return:      f5
  Stack use after scope:   f8
  Global redzone:          f9
  Global init order:       f6
  Poisoned by user:        f7
  Container overflow:      fc
  Array cookie:            ac
  Intra object redzone:    bb
  ASan internal:           fe
  Left alloca redzone:     ca
  Right alloca redzone:    cb
==3235==ABORTING
Affected version:
2.29.51.20170921 and maybe past releases

Fixed version:
N/A

Commit fix:
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=515f23e63c0074ab531bc954f84ca40c6281a724

Credit:
This bug was discovered by Agostino Sarubbo of Gentoo.

CVE:
CVE-2017-14939

Reproducer:
https://github.com/asarubbo/poc/blob/master/00370-binutils-heapoverflow-read_1_byte
https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb-bin-sploits/-/raw/main/bin-sploits/42970.zip

Timeline:
2017-09-21: bug discovered and reported to upstream
2017-09-24: upstream released a patch
2017-09-26: blog post about the issue
2017-09-29: CVE assigned

Note:
This bug was found with American Fuzzy Lop.
This bug was identified with bare metal servers donated by Packet. This work is also supported by the Core Infrastructure Initiative.

Permalink:

https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2017/09/26/binutils-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-read_1_byte-dwarf2-c/


Proof of Concept:
https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb-bin-sploits/-/raw/main/bin-sploits/42970.zip