angler-fishThe Vulnerability History Project

CVE-2019-19069

A function inside the Qualcomm FastRPC drivers is not properly releasing memory that it used throughout execution upon failure. Attackers can call this function multiple times with failures and cause a denial of service by overexhausting the memory.


CVE-2019-19069 was the result of a coding mistake in the form of a lapse. The developer forgot to free the memory that they used for a variable in a function that could return failure.
  • Commits
  • Files Patched
    • Vulnerability-Contributing Commit
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    CVE: CVE-2019-19069
    CWE:
    - 401
    ipc:
      note: |
        The feature that the vulnerability was found in was the driver for Qualcomm FastRPC.
        FastRPC is what allows Snapdragon processors to efficiently communicate data between
        different processors or SOCs. This implies that interprocess communication is occurring.
      answer: true
      question: |
        Did the feature that this vulnerability affected use inter-process
        communication? IPC includes OS signals, pipes, stdin/stdout, message
        passing, and clipboard. Writing to files that another program in this
        software system reads is another form of IPC.
    
        Answer must be true or false.
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of
        what your answer was.
    CVSS: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
    bugs: []
    i18n:
      note: |
        The vulnerability is related to drivers for the Qualcomm FastRPC capability of Snapdragon processors.
        It allows for efficient communication between different processors/cores and does not interact with the user.
        Thus, it is not related to internationalization
      answer: false
      question: |
        Was the feature impacted by this vulnerability about internationalization
        (i18n)?
    
        An internationalization feature is one that enables people from all
        over the world to use the system. This includes translations, locales,
        typography, unicode, or various other features.
    
        Answer should be true or false
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of
        what your answer was.
    vccs:
    - note: 'This commit involves the import of the structure that is used as a parameter
        for the method involved in the vulnerability.
    
        '
      commit: 6cffd79504ce040f460831030d3069fa1c99bb71
    fixes:
    - note: |
        Manually confirmed. This commit made it so that the memory for the variable in
        question is released upon method failure. This directly prevents the attacker
        from being able to exploit this vulnerability because they are unable
        to fill the memory over excessive method calls.
      commit: fc739a058d99c9297ef6bfd923b809d85855b9a9
    vouch:
      note: 'Greg Kroah-Hartman signed off on the fix commit and the commit performed
        before the fix commit.
    
        '
      answer: true
      question: |
        Was there any part of the fix that involved one person vouching for
        another's work?
    
        This can include:
          * signing off on a commit message
          * mentioning a discussion with a colleague checking the work
          * upvoting a solution on a pull request
    
        Answer must be true or false.
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of what your answer was.
    bounty:
      amt: 
      url: 
      announced: 
    lessons:
      yagni:
        note: 
        applies: false
      question: |
        Are there any common lessons we have learned from class that apply to this
        vulnerability? In other words, could this vulnerability serve as an example
        of one of those lessons?
    
        Leave "applies" blank or put false if you did not see that lesson (you do
        not need to put a reason). Put "true" if you feel the lesson applies and put
        a quick explanation of how it applies.
    
        Don't feel the need to claim that ALL of these apply, but it's pretty likely
        that one or two of them apply.
    
        If you think of another lesson we covered in class that applies here, feel
        free to give it a small name and add one in the same format as these.
      serial_killer:
        note: 
        applies: false
      complex_inputs:
        note: 
        applies: false
      distrust_input:
        note: 
        applies: false
      least_privilege:
        note: 
        applies: false
      native_wrappers:
        note: 
        applies: false
      defense_in_depth:
        note: 
        applies: false
      secure_by_default:
        note: 
        applies: false
      environment_variables:
        note: |
          I'm putting true for this because it involves keeping variables up to date,
          which includes removing them when they are no longer needed.
        applies: true
      security_by_obscurity:
        note: 
        applies: false
      frameworks_are_optional:
        note: 
        applies: false
    reviews: []
    sandbox:
      note: |
        The vulnerability did not circumvent any authentication or sandboxing in order to gain elevated privileges.
        It makes use of the fact that memory is not released upon a method's failure.
      answer: false
      question: |
        Did this vulnerability violate a sandboxing feature that the system
        provides?
    
        A sandboxing feature is one that allows files, users, or other features
        limited access. Vulnerabilities that violate sandboxes are usually based on
        access control, checking privileges incorrectly, path traversal, and the
        like.
    
        Answer should be true or false
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of
        what your answer was.
    upvotes: 5
    CWE_note: |
      CWE as registered in the NVD. If you are curating, check that this
      is correct and replace this comment with "Manually confirmed".
    mistakes:
      answer: |
        CVE-2019-19069 was the result of a coding mistake in the form of a lapse. The
        developer forgot to free the memory that they used for a variable in a function
        that could return failure.
      question: |
        In your opinion, after all of this research, what mistakes were made that
        led to this vulnerability? Coding mistakes? Design mistakes?
        Maintainability? Requirements? Miscommunications?
    
        There can, and usually are, many mistakes behind a vulnerability.
    
        Remember that mistakes can come in many forms:
        * slip: failing to complete a properly planned step due to inattention
                  e.g. wrong key in the ignition
                  e.g. using < instead of <=
        * lapse: failing to complete a properly planned step due to memory failure
                  e.g. forgetting to put car in reverse before backing up
                  e.g. forgetting to check null
        * planning error: error that occurs when the plan is inadequate
                  e.g. getting stuck in traffic because you didn't consider the
                       impact of the bridge closing
                  e.g. calling the wrong method
                  e.g. using a poor design
    
        These are grey areas, of course. But do your best to analyze the mistakes
        according to this framework.
    
        Look at the CWE entry for this vulnerability and examine the mitigations
        they have written there. Are they doing those? Does the fix look proper?
    
        Write a thoughtful entry here that people in the software engineering
        industry would find interesting.
    nickname: 
    subsystem:
      name: drivers
      note: |
        The vulnerability is specificly in the drivers for the Qualcomm FastRPC driver (drivers/misc/fastrpc.c).
        When a Qualcomm Snapdragon SOC is present, this driver allows the efficient transfer of tasks between the Snapdragon processor and digital signal
        processor.
      question: |
        What subsystems was the mistake in? These are WITHIN linux kernel
    
        Determining the subsystem is a subjective task. This is to help us group
         similar vulnerabilities, so choose a subsystem that other vulnerabilities would be in. Y
    
        Some areas to look for pertinent information:
          - Bug labels
          - Directory names
          - How developers refer to an area of the system in comments,
            commit messages, etc.
    
        Look at the path of the source code files code that were fixed to get
        directory names. Look at comments in the code. Look at the bug reports how
        the bug report was tagged.
    
        Example linux kernel subsystems are:
          * drivers
          * crypto
          * fs
          * net
          * lib
    
        Name should be:
          * all lowercase English letters
          * NOT a specific file
          * can have digits, and _-@/
    
        Can be multiple subsystems involved, in which case you can make it an array
        e.g.
            name: ["subsystemA", "subsystemB"] # ok
            name: subsystemA # also ok
    discovered:
      answer: |
        2019-08-29
        Automation discovered this vulnerability. Specifically, the kmemleak automation
        feature inside the Linux kernel. It's primary purpose is to discover memory leaks
        by looking for unreferenced memory locations.
      contest: false
      question: |
        How was this vulnerability discovered?
    
        Go to the bug report and read the conversation to find out how this was
        originally found. Answer in longform below in "answer", fill in the date in
        YYYY-MM-DD, and then determine if the vulnerability was found by a Google
        employee (you can tell from their email address). If it's clear that the
        vulenrability was discovered by a contest, fill in the name there.
    
        The automated, contest, and developer flags can be true, false, or nil.
    
        If there is no evidence as to how this vulnerability was found, then please
        explain where you looked.
      automated: true
      developer: false
    discussion:
      note: |
        Main discussion occurred via commit messages alerting people to the issue.
        Commit Message:
        "misc: fastrpc: prevent memory leak in fastrpc_dma_buf_attach
    
        In fastrpc_dma_buf_attach if dma_get_sgtable fails the allocated memory
        for a should be released."
      question: |
        Was there any discussion surrounding this?
    
        A discussion can include debates, disputes, or polite talk about how to
        resolve uncertainty.
    
        Example include:
          * Is this out of our scope?
          * Is this a security?
          * How should we fix this?
    
        Just because you see multiple comments doesn't mean it's a discussion.
        For example:
          * "Fix line 10". "Ok" is not what we call a discussion
          * "Ping" (reminding people)
    
        Check the bugs reports, pull requests, and mailing lists archives.
    
        These answers should be boolean.
          discussed_as_security: true or false
          any_discussion: true or false
    
        Put any links to disagreements you found in the notes section, or any other
        comment you want to make.
      any_discussion: true
      discussed_as_security: false
    stacktrace:
      note: 'Checked Bugzilla for any reports of errors/logs. Checked the change log and
        the report on NVD.
    
        '
      question: |
        Are there any stacktraces in the bug reports?
    
        Secondly, if there is a stacktrace, is the fix in the same file that the
        stacktrace points to?
    
        If there are no stacktraces, then both of these are false - but be sure to
        mention where you checked in the note.
    
        Answer must be true or false.
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of
        what your answer was.
      any_stacktraces: false
      stacktrace_with_fix: false
    description: |
      A function inside the Qualcomm FastRPC drivers is not properly releasing memory
      that it used throughout execution upon failure. Attackers can call this function
      multiple times with failures and cause a denial of service by overexhausting the memory.
    unit_tested:
      fix: false
      code: true
      question: |
        Were automated unit tests involved in this vulnerability?
        Was the original code unit tested, or not unit tested? Did the fix involve
        improving the automated tests?
    
        For code: and fix: - your answer should be boolean.
    
        For the code_answer below, look not only at the fix but the surrounding
        code near the fix in related directories and determine if and was there were
        unit tests involved for this subsystem.
    
        For the fix_answer below, check if the fix for the vulnerability involves
        adding or improving an automated test to ensure this doesn't happen again.
      fix_answer: 
      code_answer: |
        The linux kernel has a tool called kmleek that bug testers/developers can
        use to easily check for memory leaks. This tool found the memory leak
        and vulnerability in question.
    reported_date: 
    specification:
      note: |
        Took a look at the change log and commit message. No mention of a specification violation.
        Mailing list for this vulnerability could not be found after extensive search.
        This vulnerability is just a simple memory reallocation issue.
      answer: false
      instructions: |
        Is there mention of a violation of a specification? For example, the POSIX
        spec, an RFC spec, a network protocol spec, or some other requirements
        specification.
    
        Be sure to check the following artifacts for this:
          * bug reports
          * security advisories
          * commit message
          * mailing lists
          * anything else
    
        The answer field should be boolean. In answer_note, please explain
        why you come to that conclusion.
    announced_date: '2019-11-18'
    curation_level: 2
    published_date: '2019-11-18'
    forgotten_check:
      note: |
        The code that was changed involved just adding one line that freed the memory for a variable
        upon method failure.
      answer: false
      question: |
        Does the fix for the vulnerability involve adding a forgotten check?
    
        A "forgotten check" can mean many things. It often manifests as the fix
        inserting an entire if-statement or a conditional to an existing
        if-statement. Or a call to a method that checks something.
    
        Example of checks can include:
          * null pointer checks
          * check the current role, e.g. root
          * boundary checks for a number
          * consult file permissions
          * check a return value
    
        Answer must be true or false.
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of
        what your answer was.
    CWE_instructions: |
      Please go to http://cwe.mitre.org and find the most specific, appropriate CWE
      entry that describes your vulnerability. We recommend going to
      https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/699.html for the Software Development
      view of the vulnerabilities. We also recommend the tool
      http://www.cwevis.org/viz to help see how the classifications work.
    
      If you have anything to note about why you classified it this way, write
      something in CWE_note. This field is optional.
    
      Just the number here is fine. No need for name or CWE prefix. If more than one
      apply here, then place them in an array like this
        CWE: ["123", "456"] # this is ok
        CWE: [123, 456]     # also ok
        CWE: 123            # also ok
    autodiscoverable:
      note: |
        The vulnerability was discovered by kmemleak which is a Linux kernel feature that
        finds memory leaks by looking for unreferenced memory locations
      answer: true
      instructions: |
        Is it plausible that a fully automated tool could have discovered
        this? These are tools that require little knowledge of the domain,
         e.g. automatic static analysis, compiler warnings, fuzzers.
    
        Examples for true answers: SQL injection, XSS, buffer overflow
    
        In systemd, the actually use OZZ Fuzz. If there's a link to it, add it here.
    
        Examples for false: RFC violations, permissions issues, anything
        that requires the tool to be "aware" of the project's
        domain-specific requirements.
    
        The answer field should be boolean. In answer_note, please explain
        why you come to that conclusion.
    vcc_instructions: |
      The vulnerability-contributing commits.
    
      These are found by our tools by traversing the Git Blame history, where we
      determine which commit(s) introduced the functionality.
    
      Look up these VCC commits and verify that they are not simple refactorings,
      and that they are, in fact introducing the vulnerability into the system.
      Often, introducing the file or function is where the VCC is, but VCCs can be
      anything.
    
      Place any notes you would like to make in the notes field.
    bugs_instructions: |
      What bugs are involved in this vulnerability?
    
      Please list bug IDs to https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
    
      Bug ID's can appear in several places:
        * Mentioned in commit messages
        * Mentioned in mailing list discussions
        * References from NVD entry
        * Various other places
    yaml_instructions: |
      =================
      ===YAML Primer===
      =================
      This is a dictionary data structure, akin to JSON.
      Everything before a colon is a key, and the values here are usually strings
      For one-line strings, you can just use quotes after the colon
      For multi-line strings, as we do for our instructions, you put a | and then
      indent by two spaces
    
      For readability, we hard-wrap multi-line strings at 80 characters. This is
      not required, but appreciated.
    fixes_instructions: |
      Please put the commit hash in "commit" below.
    
      This must be a git commit hash from the systemd source repo, a  40-character
      hexademical string/
    
      Place any notes you would like to make in the notes field.
    bounty_instructions: |
      If you came across any indications that a bounty was paid out for this
      vulnerability, fill it out here. Or correct it if the information already here
      was wrong. Otherwise, leave it blank.
    interesting_commits:
      commits:
      - note: |
          There was an additional commit performed before the commit that fixed the vulnerability. It adds code to clear
          another location in memory that was in use. Highly likely that they caught this memory leakage before the one
          referred to in this vulnerability.
        commit: cf61860e6b090bea4050c5688566bfe357cacd11
      question: |
        Are there any interesting commits between your VCC(s) and fix(es)?
    
        Use this to specify any commits you think are notable in some way, and
        explain why in the note.
    
        Example interesting commits:
          * Mentioned as a problematic commit in the past
            e.g. "This fixes regression in commit xys"
          * A significant rewrite in the git history
          * Other commits that fixed a similar issue as this vulnerability
          * Anything else you find interesting.
    order_of_operations:
      note: |
        I'm putting true for this because there technically was a change of operations. Before returning
        failure for the method, the memory for the variable is freed.
      answer: true
      question: |
        Does the fix for the vulnerability involve correcting an order of
        operations?
    
        This means the fix involves moving code around or changing the order of
        how things are done.
    
        Answer must be true or false.
        Write a note about how you came to the conclusions you did, regardless of
        what your answer was.
    curated_instructions: |
      If you are manually editing this file, then you are "curating" it.
    
      Set the version number that you were given in your instructions.
    
      This will enable additional editorial checks on this file to make sure you
      fill everything out properly. If you are a student, we cannot accept your work
      as finished unless curated is properly updated.
    upvotes_instructions: |
      For the first round, ignore this upvotes number.
    
      For the second round of reviewing, you will be giving a certain amount of
      upvotes to each vulnerability you see. Your peers will tell you how
      interesting they think this vulnerability is, and you'll add that to the
      upvotes score on your branch.
    nickname_instructions: |
      A catchy name for this vulnerability that would draw attention it.
      If the report mentions a nickname, use that.
      Must be under 30 characters. Optional.
    reported_instructions: |
      What date was the vulnerability reported to the security team? Look at the
      security bulletins and bug reports. It is not necessarily the same day that
      the CVE was created.  Leave blank if no date is given.
    
      Please enter your date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
    announced_instructions: |
      Was there a date that this vulnerability was announced to the world? You can
      find this in changelogs, blogs, bug reports, or perhaps the CVE date.
    
      This is not the same as published date in the NVD - that is below.
    
      Please enter your date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
    published_instructions: |
      Is there a published fix or patch date for this vulnerability?
      Please enter your date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
    description_instructions: |
      You can get an initial description from the CVE entry on cve.mitre.org. These
      descriptions are a fine start, but they can be kind of jargony.
    
      Rewrite this description IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Make it interesting and easy to
      read to anyone with some programming experience. We can always pull up the NVD
      description later to get more technical.
    
      Try to still be specific in your description, but remove project-specific
      stuff. Remove references to versions, specific filenames, and other jargon
      that outsiders to this project would not understand. Technology like "regular
      expressions" is fine, and security phrases like "invalid write" are fine to
      keep too.
    
      Your target audience is people just like you before you took any course in
      security
    

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