#VU80176 Infinite loop in elfutils - CVE-2021-33294

Vulnerability identifier: #VU80176

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 0.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-33294

CWE-ID: CWE-835

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
elfutils
Server applications / File servers (FTP/HTTP)

Vendor: Sourceware

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to infinite loop within the handle_symtab() function in readelf.c. A remote attacker can consume all available system resources and trigger denial of service condition.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

elfutils: 0.183

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External links
https://sourceware.org/pipermail/elfutils-devel/2021q1/003607.html
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=27501

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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