CVE-2021-33294
NixOS vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

CVE-2021-33294 is a vulnerability discovered in elfutils version 0.183, specifically in the handlesymtab function within readelf.c. The vulnerability was reported on March 3, 2021, and involves an infinite loop condition that can be triggered by processing a crafted file ([Bugzilla Report](https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=27501)).

Technical details

The vulnerability is classified as an infinite loop vulnerability (CWE-835) where the handle_symtab function in readelf.c can enter an endless loop when processing certain crafted files. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 Base Score of 5.5 (Medium) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (NVD).

Impact

The vulnerability allows attackers to cause a denial of service condition through an infinite loop by using a specially crafted file. The impact is limited to availability, with no direct effect on confidentiality or integrity (NVD).

Mitigation and workarounds

The vulnerability was fixed in elfutils version 0.184 through commit 480b6fa3662ba8ffeee274bf0d37423413c01e55, which added sanity checks for verneed and verdef offsets in the handle_symtab function. The fix ensures that all offsets are validated to prevent wraparound conditions that could lead to infinite loops (Mailing List).

Additional resources


SourceThis report was generated using AI

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