VM escape flaw in QEMU allows for arbitrary code execution, denial of service

mood · Aug 26, 2019

VM escape flaw in QEMU allows for arbitrary code execution, denial of service
Reassembly of fragmented packets can potentially be exploited against cloud-hosted virtual machine services
August 26, 2019
https://www.techrepublic.com/articl...r-arbitrary-code-execution-denial-of-service/

A vulnerability in QEMU—a popular open-source hardware virtualization package—allows malicious actors to perform a "virtual machine escape," in essence, allowing attackers to break out of guest operating systems and attack the host operating system that QEMU runs on.

The vulnerability, designated as CVE-2019-14378, relies on the networking implementation in QEMU: A flaw in the SLiRP networking backend exists in the ip_reass() routine—used to reassemble packets—when the first fragment is larger than the m->m_dat[] buffer. Fragmentation of packets is a routine occurrence, for situations when packets are larger than the maximum transmission unit (MTU) set for a specific connection. In these situations, the fragments are reassembled by the receiving system.

Successfully exploiting the vulnerability also requires bypassing ASLR and PIE. A full explanation of the exploit is provided by Vishnu Dev.
While no external mitigation exists, patches have been published for the vulnerability, which additionally fixes a regression in which network block device connections could hang.
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VM escape flaw in QEMU allows for arbitrary code execution, denial of service

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VM escape flaw in QEMU allows for arbitrary code execution, denial of service

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