FreeBSD : xen-kernel -- x86 null segments not always treated as unusable (50ac2e96-ba4d-11e6-ae1b-002590263bf5)

high Nessus Plugin ID 95505

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Synopsis

The remote FreeBSD host is missing a security-related update.

Description

The Xen Project reports :

The Xen x86 emulator erroneously failed to consider the unusability of segments when performing memory accesses.

The intended behaviour is as follows: The user data segment (%ds, %es, %fs and %gs) selectors may be NULL in 32-bit to prevent access. In 64-bit, NULL has a special meaning for user segments, and there is no way of preventing access. However, in both 32-bit and 64-bit, a NULL LDT system segment is intended to prevent access.

On Intel hardware, loading a NULL selector zeros the base as well as most attributes, but sets the limit field to its largest possible value. On AMD hardware, loading a NULL selector zeros the attributes, leaving the stale base and limit intact.

Xen may erroneously permit the access using unexpected base/limit values.

Ability to exploit this vulnerability on Intel is easy, but on AMD depends in a complicated way on how the guest kernel manages LDTs.

An unprivileged guest user program may be able to elevate its privilege to that of the guest operating system.

Solution

Update the affected package.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 95505

File Name: freebsd_pkg_50ac2e96ba4d11e6ae1b002590263bf5.nasl

Version: 3.5

Type: local

Family: FreeBSD Local Security Checks

Published: 12/5/2016

Updated: 1/4/2021

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.9

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.6

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:freebsd:freebsd:xen-kernel, cpe:/o:freebsd:freebsd

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/FreeBSD/release, Host/FreeBSD/pkg_info

Patch Publication Date: 12/4/2016

Vulnerability Publication Date: 11/22/2016

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2016-9386

Detections

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