Vulnerabilities > CVE-2021-4207 - Classic Buffer Overflow vulnerability in multiple products

047910
CVSS 8.2 - HIGH
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
HIGH
Confidentiality impact
HIGH
Integrity impact
HIGH
Availability impact
HIGH
local
low complexity
qemu
redhat
debian
CWE-120
NVD
Published: 2022-04-29
Updated: 2024-11-21

Summary

A flaw was found in the QXL display device emulation in QEMU. A double fetch of guest controlled values `cursor->header.width` and `cursor->header.height` can lead to the allocation of a small cursor object followed by a subsequent heap-based buffer overflow. A malicious privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the QEMU process on the host or potentially execute arbitrary code within the context of the QEMU process.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Qemu
364
OS
Redhat
2
OS
Debian
2

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables
    This attack pattern involves causing a buffer overflow through manipulation of environment variables. Once the attacker finds that they can modify an environment variable, they may try to overflow associated buffers. This attack leverages implicit trust often placed in environment variables.
  • Overflow Buffers
    Buffer Overflow attacks target improper or missing bounds checking on buffer operations, typically triggered by input injected by an attacker. As a consequence, an attacker is able to write past the boundaries of allocated buffer regions in memory, causing a program crash or potentially redirection of execution as per the attackers' choice.
  • Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow
    This type of attack exploits a buffer overflow vulnerability in targeted client software through injection of malicious content from a custom-built hostile service.
  • Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow
    In this attack, the idea is to cause an active filter to fail by causing an oversized transaction. An attacker may try to feed overly long input strings to the program in an attempt to overwhelm the filter (by causing a buffer overflow) and hoping that the filter does not fail securely (i.e. the user input is let into the system unfiltered).
  • MIME Conversion
    An attacker exploits a weakness in the MIME conversion routine to cause a buffer overflow and gain control over the mail server machine. The MIME system is designed to allow various different information formats to be interpreted and sent via e-mail. Attack points exist when data are converted to MIME compatible format and back.

References