VYPR
Low severityNVD Advisory· Published Sep 1, 2023· Updated Feb 13, 2025

Default functions in VolatileMemory trait lack bounds checks in vm-memory

CVE-2023-41051

Description

In a typical Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) there are several components, such as boot loader, virtual device drivers, virtio backend drivers and vhost drivers, that need to access the VM physical memory. The vm-memory rust crate provides a set of traits to decouple VM memory consumers from VM memory providers. An issue was discovered in the default implementations of the VolatileMemory::{get_atomic_ref, aligned_as_ref, aligned_as_mut, get_ref, get_array_ref} trait functions, which allows out-of-bounds memory access if the VolatileMemory::get_slice function returns a VolatileSlice whose length is less than the function’s count argument. No implementations of get_slice provided in vm_memory are affected. Users of custom VolatileMemory implementations may be impacted if the custom implementation does not adhere to get_slice's documentation. The issue started in version 0.1.0 but was fixed in version 0.12.2 by inserting a check that verifies that the VolatileSlice returned by get_slice is of the correct length. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

Affected packages

Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.

PackageAffected versionsPatched versions
vm-memorycrates.io
< 0.12.20.12.2

Affected products

1

Patches

1
aff1dd4a5259

fix: Validate return value of get_slice in VolatileMemory

https://github.com/rust-vmm/vm-memoryPatrick RoyAug 29, 2023via ghsa
3 files changed · +78 21
  • Cargo.toml+1 1 modified
    @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
     [package]
     name = "vm-memory"
    -version = "0.12.1"
    +version = "0.12.2"
     description = "Safe abstractions for accessing the VM physical memory"
     keywords = ["memory"]
     categories = ["memory-management"]
    
  • CHANGELOG.md+7 12 modified
    @@ -1,28 +1,23 @@
     # Changelog
    -## [Unreleased]
     
    -### Added
    -
    -### Changed
    +## [v0.12.2]
     
     ### Fixed
    +- [[#251]](https://github.com/rust-vmm/vm-memory/pull/251): Inserted checks
    +  that verify that the value returned by `VolatileMemory::get_slice` is of
    +  the correct length.
     
     ### Deprecated
    +- [[#244]](https://github.com/rust-vmm/vm-memory/pull/241) Deprecate volatile
    +  memory's `as_ptr()` interfaces. The new interfaces to be used instead are:
    +  `ptr_guard()` and `ptr_guard_mut()`.
     
     ## [v0.12.1]
     
     ### Fixed
     - [[#241]](https://github.com/rust-vmm/vm-memory/pull/245) mmap_xen: Don't drop
       the FileOffset while in use #245
     
    -## [Unreleased]
    -
    -### Deprecated
    -
    -- [[#244]](https://github.com/rust-vmm/vm-memory/pull/241) Deprecate volatile
    -  memory's `as_ptr()` interfaces. The new interfaces to be used instead are:
    -  `ptr_guard()` and `ptr_guard_mut()`.
    -
     ## [v0.12.0]
     
     ### Added
    
  • src/volatile_memory.rs+70 8 modified
    @@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ pub trait VolatileMemory {
     
         /// Returns a [`VolatileSlice`](struct.VolatileSlice.html) of `count` bytes starting at
         /// `offset`.
    +    ///
    +    /// Note that the property `get_slice(offset, count).len() == count` MUST NOT be
    +    /// relied on for the correctness of unsafe code. This is a safe function inside of a
    +    /// safe trait, and implementors are under no obligation to follow its documentation.
         fn get_slice(&self, offset: usize, count: usize) -> Result<VolatileSlice<BS<Self::B>>>;
     
         /// Gets a slice of memory for the entire region that supports volatile access.
    @@ -119,8 +123,18 @@ pub trait VolatileMemory {
         /// Gets a `VolatileRef` at `offset`.
         fn get_ref<T: ByteValued>(&self, offset: usize) -> Result<VolatileRef<T, BS<Self::B>>> {
             let slice = self.get_slice(offset, size_of::<T>())?;
    -        // SAFETY: This is safe because the pointer is range-checked by get_slice, and
    -        // the lifetime is the same as self.
    +
    +        assert_eq!(
    +            slice.len(),
    +            size_of::<T>(),
    +            "VolatileMemory::get_slice(offset, count) returned slice of length != count."
    +        );
    +
    +        // SAFETY: This is safe because the invariants of the constructors of VolatileSlice ensure that
    +        // slice.addr is valid memory of size slice.len(). The assert above ensures that
    +        // the length of the slice is exactly enough to hold one `T`. Lastly, the lifetime of the
    +        // returned VolatileRef match that of the VolatileSlice returned by get_slice and thus the
    +        // lifetime one `self`.
             unsafe {
                 Ok(VolatileRef::with_bitmap(
                     slice.addr,
    @@ -146,8 +160,18 @@ pub trait VolatileMemory {
                     size: size_of::<T>(),
                 })?;
             let slice = self.get_slice(offset, nbytes as usize)?;
    -        // SAFETY: This is safe because the pointer is range-checked by get_slice, and
    -        // the lifetime is the same as self.
    +
    +        assert_eq!(
    +            slice.len(),
    +            nbytes as usize,
    +            "VolatileMemory::get_slice(offset, count) returned slice of length != count."
    +        );
    +
    +        // SAFETY: This is safe because the invariants of the constructors of VolatileSlice ensure that
    +        // slice.addr is valid memory of size slice.len(). The assert above ensures that
    +        // the length of the slice is exactly enough to hold `n` instances of `T`. Lastly, the lifetime of the
    +        // returned VolatileArrayRef match that of the VolatileSlice returned by get_slice and thus the
    +        // lifetime one `self`.
             unsafe {
                 Ok(VolatileArrayRef::with_bitmap(
                     slice.addr,
    @@ -171,7 +195,21 @@ pub trait VolatileMemory {
         unsafe fn aligned_as_ref<T: ByteValued>(&self, offset: usize) -> Result<&T> {
             let slice = self.get_slice(offset, size_of::<T>())?;
             slice.check_alignment(align_of::<T>())?;
    -        Ok(&*(slice.addr as *const T))
    +
    +        assert_eq!(
    +            slice.len(),
    +            size_of::<T>(),
    +            "VolatileMemory::get_slice(offset, count) returned slice of length != count."
    +        );
    +
    +        // SAFETY: This is safe because the invariants of the constructors of VolatileSlice ensure that
    +        // slice.addr is valid memory of size slice.len(). The assert above ensures that
    +        // the length of the slice is exactly enough to hold one `T`.
    +        // Dereferencing the pointer is safe because we check the alignment above, and the invariants
    +        // of this function ensure that no aliasing pointers exist. Lastly, the lifetime of the
    +        // returned VolatileArrayRef match that of the VolatileSlice returned by get_slice and thus the
    +        // lifetime one `self`.
    +        unsafe { Ok(&*(slice.addr as *const T)) }
         }
     
         /// Returns a mutable reference to an instance of `T` at `offset`. Mutable accesses performed
    @@ -191,7 +229,21 @@ pub trait VolatileMemory {
             let slice = self.get_slice(offset, size_of::<T>())?;
             slice.check_alignment(align_of::<T>())?;
     
    -        Ok(&mut *(slice.addr as *mut T))
    +        assert_eq!(
    +            slice.len(),
    +            size_of::<T>(),
    +            "VolatileMemory::get_slice(offset, count) returned slice of length != count."
    +        );
    +
    +        // SAFETY: This is safe because the invariants of the constructors of VolatileSlice ensure that
    +        // slice.addr is valid memory of size slice.len(). The assert above ensures that
    +        // the length of the slice is exactly enough to hold one `T`.
    +        // Dereferencing the pointer is safe because we check the alignment above, and the invariants
    +        // of this function ensure that no aliasing pointers exist. Lastly, the lifetime of the
    +        // returned VolatileArrayRef match that of the VolatileSlice returned by get_slice and thus the
    +        // lifetime one `self`.
    +
    +        unsafe { Ok(&mut *(slice.addr as *mut T)) }
         }
     
         /// Returns a reference to an instance of `T` at `offset`. Mutable accesses performed
    @@ -206,8 +258,18 @@ pub trait VolatileMemory {
             let slice = self.get_slice(offset, size_of::<T>())?;
             slice.check_alignment(align_of::<T>())?;
     
    -        // SAFETY: This is safe because the pointer is range-checked by get_slice, and
    -        // the lifetime is the same as self.
    +        assert_eq!(
    +            slice.len(),
    +            size_of::<T>(),
    +            "VolatileMemory::get_slice(offset, count) returned slice of length != count."
    +        );
    +
    +        // SAFETY: This is safe because the invariants of the constructors of VolatileSlice ensure that
    +        // slice.addr is valid memory of size slice.len(). The assert above ensures that
    +        // the length of the slice is exactly enough to hold one `T`.
    +        // Dereferencing the pointer is safe because we check the alignment above. Lastly, the lifetime of the
    +        // returned VolatileArrayRef match that of the VolatileSlice returned by get_slice and thus the
    +        // lifetime one `self`.
             unsafe { Ok(&*(slice.addr as *const T)) }
         }
     
    

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated by null/stub on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

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