Critical 'Stack Clash' Vulnerability Affects Unix-Like Systems; Urgent Patching Advised
A serious memory management vulnerability, dubbed 'Stack Clash', has been discovered affecting a wide range of Unix-like operating systems, including Linux, BSD systems, and even Solaris on specific architectures. This vulnerability, primarily CVE-2017-1000364, exploits the confusion between the stack and other memory regions when they grow too close to each other, especially on systems with contiguous user stack and heap memory regions, like Linux and BSD systems on x86 and x86-64 architectures. Systems without proper separation or guard pages between these regions are particularly vulnerable. The vulnerability allows attackers to collide, or clash, the stack with another memory region, leading to memory corruption and the execution of arbitrary code. This results in local privilege escalations, granting attackers full root privileges. The idea of exploiting this confusion was previously explored in 2005 and 2010, but protections were insufficient. Qualys researchers discovered this vulnerability and developed exploits and proofs of concept. Patches are available for all distributions as of June 19, 2017, and users are strongly advised to prioritize patching their systems to mitigate this risk. In summary, the Stack Clash vulnerability poses a significant threat to users of affected operating systems and architectures, allowing attackers to gain full root privileges through memory corruption. Users should urgently update their systems with the available patches to protect against this vulnerability.
