CVE-2018-25027

Vulnerability

The libpulse-binding crate for Rust before version 1.2.1 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the Stream::get_format_info and Stream::get_context methods. These methods return objects that reference underlying C objects, but they were constructed without setting a flag to prevent destruction of those C objects when the returned Rust objects are dropped. This can lead to a use-after-free condition [3][4].

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by causing the affected methods to be called and then triggering the drop of the returned object. The attacker does not require special authentication or network position; the risk arises when an application uses the library in a way that leads to the dangling reference. The specific sequence involves calling get_format_info or get_context, allowing the returned object to be dropped while still being used elsewhere [3][4].

Impact

Successful exploitation can result in memory corruption, potentially leading to information disclosure or arbitrary code execution. The exact impact depends on how the freed memory is reused and the context of the application [3][4].

Mitigation

The vulnerability is fixed in version 1.2.1 of the libpulse-binding crate. Users should upgrade to >=1.2.1 to mitigate the issue. No workarounds are documented [3][4].