Race condition in Linux kernel

1) Race condition

EUVDB-ID: #VU28411

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 4.1 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2019-3016

CWE-ID: CWE-362 - Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local authenticated user to gain access to sensitive information.

In a Linux KVM guest that has PV TLB enabled, a process in the guest kernel may be able to read memory locations from another process in the same guest. This problem is limit to the host running linux kernel 4.10 with a guest running linux kernel 4.16 or later. The problem mainly affects AMD processors but Intel CPUs cannot be ruled out.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.19 - 5.5.19

External links

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.19.103
http://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.4.19
http://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.5.3
http://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.6
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.19.119

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.