CVE-2019-17041: Buffer Overflow

Published Oct 7, 2019
·
Updated

An issue was discovered in Rsyslog v8.1908.0. contrib/pmaixforwardedfrom/pmaixforwardedfrom.c has a heap overflow in the parser for AIX log messages. The parser tries to locate a log message delimiter (in this case, a space or a colon) but fails to account for strings that do not satisfy this constraint. If the string does not match, then the variable lenMsg will reach the value zero and will skip the sanity check that detects invalid log messages. The message will then be considered valid, and the parser will eat up the nonexistent colon delimiter. In doing so, it will decrement lenMsg, a signed integer, whose value was zero and now becomes minus one. The following step in the parser is to shift left the contents of the message. To do this, it will call memmove with the right pointers to the target and destination strings, but the lenMsg will now be interpreted as a huge value, causing a heap overflow.

Other sources

Rsyslog is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking by the contrib/pmaixforwardedfrom/pmaixforwardedfrom.c. By sending a specially-crafted message, a remote attacker could overflow a buffer and execute arbitrary code on the system or cause the application to crash.

IBM

Affected Software

7 affected componentsFixes available
IBM Data Risk Manager<=2.0.6
rsyslog Rsyslog=8.1908.0
Debian Debian Linux=9.0
Fedoraproject Fedora=30
Fedoraproject Fedora=31
openSUSE Leap=15.0
openSUSE Leap=15.1

Event History

Oct 7, 2019
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:31 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:31 PM
Description

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2019-17041?

CVE-2019-17041 is a vulnerability in Rsyslog that allows for a heap-based buffer overflow due to improper bounds checking.

2

What is the severity of CVE-2019-17041?

CVE-2019-17041 has a severity score of 9.8 out of 10, which is considered critical.

3

Which software is affected by CVE-2019-17041?

The affected software includes Rsyslog version 8.1908.0, IBM Data Risk Manager version up to 2.0.6, Debian Linux version 9.0, Fedora version 30 and 31, and openSUSE Leap version 15.0 and 15.1.

4

How can I fix CVE-2019-17041?

To fix CVE-2019-17041, it is recommended to apply the relevant patches provided by the respective vendors.

5

Where can I find more information about CVE-2019-17041?

More information about CVE-2019-17041 can be found in the provided references: http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00031.html, http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00032.html, https://github.com/rsyslog/rsyslog/blob/v8-stable/ChangeLog

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