CVE-2022-50334: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hugetlbfs: fix null-ptr-deref in hugetlbfs_parse_param() Syzkaller reports a null-ptr-deref bug as follows: ====================================================== KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] RIP: 0010:hugetlbfs_parse_param+0x1dd/0x8e0 fs/hugetlbfs/inode.c:1380 [...] Call Trace: <TASK> vfs_parse_fs_param fs/fs_context.c:148 [inline] vfs_parse_fs_param+0x1f9/0x3c0 fs/fs_context.c:129 vfs_parse_fs_string+0xdb/0x170 fs/fs_context.c:191 generic_parse_monolithic+0x16f/0x1f0 fs/fs_context.c:231 do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3036 [inline] path_mount+0x12de/0x1e20 fs/namespace.c:3370 do_mount fs/namespace.c:3383 [inline] __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3591 [inline] __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:3568 [inline] __x64_sys_mount+0x27f/0x300 fs/namespace.c:3568 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd [...] </TASK> ====================================================== According to commit "vfs: parse: deal with zero length string value", kernel will set the param->string to null pointer in vfs_parse_fs_string() if fs string has zero length. Yet the problem is that, hugetlbfs_parse_param() will dereference the param->string, without checking whether it is a null pointer. To be more specific, if hugetlbfs_parse_param() parses an illegal mount parameter, such as "size=,", kernel will constructs struct fs_parameter with null pointer in vfs_parse_fs_string(), then passes this struct fs_parameter to hugetlbfs_parse_param(), which triggers the above null-ptr-deref bug. This patch solves it by adding sanity check on param->string in hugetlbfs_parse_param().

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2022-50334, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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