Double-Free Vulnerability in Xen
Summary
CVE-2017-14317: A domain cleanup issue was discovered in the C xenstore daemon (aka cxenstored) in Xen through 4.9.x. Affects xen versions < 4.9.0-r4. Fixed in 4.9.0-r4. How to fix ↓
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Background
Xen is an open-source hypervisor that allows multiple operating systems to run on a single host machine. It provides virtualization capabilities and is widely used in cloud computing and virtualization platforms. However, a vulnerability has been discovered in the C xenstore daemon (cxenstored) in Xen versions up to 4.9.x.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2017-14317, is a domain cleanup issue in cxenstored. When shutting down a virtual machine (VM) with a stubdomain, a race condition in cxenstored may lead to a double-free. This can cause the xenstored daemon to crash, resulting in a denial-of-service (DoS) attack on various system components that rely on it, such as domain creation/destruction, ballooning, and device changes.
How To Fix
Minimum fixed version
4.9.0-r4
This is the first release that contains the fix.
sudo apk add --upgrade xenTip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →
Workaround
There is no known workaround for this vulnerability. It is essential to apply the provided fix by updating the Xen package to the recommended version.
Conclusion
The double-free vulnerability in cxenstored can lead to a DoS attack on critical components of the Xen virtualization environment. It is crucial to update the Xen package to version 4.9.0-r4 or later to mitigate this vulnerability. For further assistance and support in vulnerability remediation, please contact DevNack.com.
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FAQ
Xen is an open-source hypervisor that enables virtualization on a single host machine, allowing multiple operating systems to run concurrently.
Cxenstored is the C xenstore daemon in Xen. It manages the Xenstore, a shared database used for communication between different domains in the Xen virtualization environment.
A double-free vulnerability occurs when a program attempts to free the same memory address twice, potentially leading to memory corruption and crashes.
The vulnerability can result in a denial-of-service (DoS) attack on various system components that rely on the xenstored daemon. This can disrupt domain creation/destruction, ballooning, and device changes, impacting the overall functionality of the Xen virtualization environment.
You can use Vulert's vulnerability monitoring service to check if your system is affected by this vulnerability. Vulert analyzes package manifest files like package-lock.json to provide real-time alerts for open-source vulnerabilities.
References
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