CVE-2023-24180

Vulnerability

An integer overflow vulnerability exists in the load function of elf/mmap_loader.cc in libelfin v0.3. The function performs an addition offset + size without proper overflow checks, allowing a crafted ELF file to cause an overflow that leads to an invalid pointer. This occurs when both offset and size are large (e.g., 0xffffffffffffffff), bypassing the subsequent bounds check against lim. The issue also triggers a segmentation violation in elf/elf.cc when processing program headers [1].

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by providing a specially crafted ELF file with a manipulated program header offset (e.g., set to -1 as shown in the referenced issue). The attacker requires no authentication or special privileges; the victim only needs to load the malicious file using a tool that relies on libelfin, such as dump-segments. The exploitation occurs automatically upon file parsing, without user interaction beyond opening the file [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation causes a Denial of Service (DoS) via a segmentation fault or invalid memory access. The integer overflow results in a pointer pointing to an invalid address, leading to a crash of the application using the library. No code execution or data compromise is indicated in the available references [1].

Mitigation

As of the publication date (2023-03-14), no patched version of libelfin has been released. The issue was reported on GitHub [1] but remains unfixed. Users should avoid processing untrusted ELF files with tools relying on libelfin v0.3 until a fix is available. No alternative workarounds are provided in the references.