This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on vulnerable installations of Joyent SmartOS release-20170803-20170803T064301Z. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the SMBIOC_TREE_RELE ioctl. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the host OS. Was ZDI-CAN-4984.
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.
| Link | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://help.joyent.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000124928 | vendor advisory |
| https://zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-18-159 | third party advisory vdb entry |