[PLUTO-security] [Fwd: Netfilter Security Advisory: Conntrack list_del() DoS]

Tom aka 'Dido' tom at pluto.linux.it
Mon Aug 4 12:00:45 CEST 2003


-----Forwarded Message-----

> From: Netfilter Core Team <coreteam a netfilter.org>
> To: Netfilter Announcement List <netfilter-announce a lists.netfilter.org>, Netfilter Mailinglist <netfilter a lists.netfilter.org>, Netfilter Development Mailinglist <netfilter-devel a lists.netfilter.org>
> Subject: [SECURITY] Netfilter Security Advisory: Conntrack list_del() DoS
> Date: 02 Aug 2003 16:33:41 +0200
> 
>                   Netfilter Core Team Security Advisory
>                   
>                            CVE: CAN-2003-0187
> 
> Subject:
> 
>   Netfilter / Connection Tracking Remote DoS
> 
> Released:
> 
>   01 Aug 2003
> 
> Effects:
> 
>   Any remote user may be able to DoS a machine with netfilter connection
>   tracking when running a specific version of the Linux kernel.
> 
> Estimated Severity:
>   High.
> 
> Systems Affected:
> 
>   Linux 2.4.20 kernels (kernels <= 2.4.19 and >= 2.4.21 NOT affected)
>   CONFIG_IP_NF_CONNTRACK enabled, or the ip_conntrack module loaded.
> 
> Solution:
> 
>   BEST: Upgrade to Linux kernels 2.4.21 (stable), or apply the patch below.
> 
>   OR: Do not use connection tracking on 2.4.20 based systems.
> 
> Details:
> 
>   The 2.4.20 kernel introduced a change in the behaviour of the generic
>   linked list support.  The connection tracking core relies on the old
>   behaviour to identify 'UNCONFIRMED' connections.  
>   
>   'UNCONFIRMED' means we've seen traffic only in one direction, but not
>   in the other.  Since connection tracking was unable to identify such
>   connections correctly anymore, they've been assigned a very high
>   timeout.
> 
>   The patch below changes the connection tracking core to no longer rely
>   on any specific behaviour of the linux linked listed API.
> 
> Vendor Statement:
> 
>   Red Hat: Patches for this issue were first introduced in RHSA-2003:17
>   Others: unknown
> 
> Credits:
>   The problem was found, and the fix implemented by the Netfilter Core Team.
> 
> Contact:
>   coreteam a netfilter.org
> 
> diff -urN --exclude-from=diff.exclude linux-2.4.20-base/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack.h linux-2.4.20-del/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack.h
> --- linux-2.4.20-base/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack.h	Fri Nov 29 00:53:15 2002
> +++ linux-2.4.20-del/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack.h	Fri Feb 21 17:01:38 2003
> @@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
>  
>  #include <linux/config.h>
>  #include <linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack_tuple.h>
> +#include <linux/bitops.h>
>  #include <asm/atomic.h>
>  
>  enum ip_conntrack_info
> @@ -41,6 +42,10 @@
>  	/* Conntrack should never be early-expired. */
>  	IPS_ASSURED_BIT = 2,
>  	IPS_ASSURED = (1 << IPS_ASSURED_BIT),
> +
> +	/* Connection is confirmed: originating packet has left box */
> +	IPS_CONFIRMED_BIT = 3,
> +	IPS_CONFIRMED = (1 << IPS_CONFIRMED_BIT),
>  };
>  
>  #include <linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack_tcp.h>
> @@ -159,7 +164,7 @@
>  	struct ip_conntrack_tuple_hash tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_MAX];
>  
>  	/* Have we seen traffic both ways yet? (bitset) */
> -	volatile unsigned long status;
> +	unsigned long status;
>  
>  	/* Timer function; drops refcnt when it goes off. */
>  	struct timer_list timeout;
> @@ -254,7 +259,7 @@
>  /* It's confirmed if it is, or has been in the hash table. */
>  static inline int is_confirmed(struct ip_conntrack *ct)
>  {
> -	return ct->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL].list.next != NULL;
> +	return test_bit(IPS_CONFIRMED_BIT, &ct->status);
>  }
>  
>  extern unsigned int ip_conntrack_htable_size;
> diff -urN --exclude-from=diff.exclude linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c
> --- linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c	Tue Feb 18 17:08:21 2003
> +++ linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c	Fri Feb 21 17:01:39 2003
> @@ -292,9 +292,6 @@
>  {
>  	DEBUGP("clean_from_lists(%p)\n", ct);
>  	MUST_BE_WRITE_LOCKED(&ip_conntrack_lock);
> -	/* Remove from both hash lists: must not NULL out next ptrs,
> -           otherwise we'll look unconfirmed.  Fortunately, LIST_DELETE
> -           doesn't do this. --RR */
>  	LIST_DELETE(&ip_conntrack_hash
>  		    [hash_conntrack(&ct->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL].tuple)],
>  		    &ct->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL]);
> @@ -467,6 +464,7 @@
>  		ct->timeout.expires += jiffies;
>  		add_timer(&ct->timeout);
>  		atomic_inc(&ct->ct_general.use);
> +		set_bit(IPS_CONFIRMED_BIT, &ct->status);
>  		WRITE_UNLOCK(&ip_conntrack_lock);
>  		return NF_ACCEPT;
>  	}
> @@ -585,7 +583,7 @@
>     connection.  Too bad: we're in trouble anyway. */
>  static inline int unreplied(const struct ip_conntrack_tuple_hash *i)
>  {
> -	return !(i->ctrack->status & IPS_ASSURED);
> +	return !(test_bit(IPS_ASSURED_BIT, &i->ctrack->status));
>  }
>  
>  static int early_drop(struct list_head *chain)
> @@ -720,7 +718,7 @@
>  			conntrack, expected);
>  		/* Welcome, Mr. Bond.  We've been expecting you... */
>  		IP_NF_ASSERT(master_ct(conntrack));
> -		conntrack->status = IPS_EXPECTED;
> +		__set_bit(IPS_EXPECTED_BIT, &conntrack->status);
>  		conntrack->master = expected;
>  		expected->sibling = conntrack;
>  		LIST_DELETE(&ip_conntrack_expect_list, expected);
> @@ -768,11 +766,11 @@
>  		*set_reply = 1;
>  	} else {
>  		/* Once we've had two way comms, always ESTABLISHED. */
> -		if (h->ctrack->status & IPS_SEEN_REPLY) {
> +		if (test_bit(IPS_SEEN_REPLY_BIT, &h->ctrack->status)) {
>  			DEBUGP("ip_conntrack_in: normal packet for %p\n",
>  			       h->ctrack);
>  		        *ctinfo = IP_CT_ESTABLISHED;
> -		} else if (h->ctrack->status & IPS_EXPECTED) {
> +		} else if (test_bit(IPS_EXPECTED_BIT, &h->ctrack->status)) {
>  			DEBUGP("ip_conntrack_in: related packet for %p\n",
>  			       h->ctrack);
>  			*ctinfo = IP_CT_RELATED;
> diff -urN --exclude-from=diff.exclude linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_tcp.c linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_tcp.c
> --- linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_tcp.c	Tue Feb 18 17:07:26 2003
> +++ linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_tcp.c	Fri Feb 21 17:03:35 2003
> @@ -192,7 +192,7 @@
>  	   have an established connection: this is a fairly common
>  	   problem case, so we can delete the conntrack
>  	   immediately.  --RR */
> -	if (!(conntrack->status & IPS_SEEN_REPLY) && tcph->rst) {
> +	if (!test_bit(IPS_SEEN_REPLY_BIT, &conntrack->status) && tcph->rst) {
>  		WRITE_UNLOCK(&tcp_lock);
>  		if (del_timer(&conntrack->timeout))
>  			conntrack->timeout.function((unsigned long)conntrack);
> diff -urN --exclude-from=diff.exclude linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_udp.c linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_udp.c
> --- linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_udp.c	Fri Nov 29 00:53:15 2002
> +++ linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_proto_udp.c	Fri Feb 21 17:01:39 2003
> @@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
>  {
>  	/* If we've seen traffic both ways, this is some kind of UDP
>  	   stream.  Extend timeout. */
> -	if (conntrack->status & IPS_SEEN_REPLY) {
> +	if (test_bit(IPS_SEEN_REPLY_BIT, &conntrack->status)) {
>  		ip_ct_refresh(conntrack, UDP_STREAM_TIMEOUT);
>  		/* Also, more likely to be important, and not a probe */
>  		set_bit(IPS_ASSURED_BIT, &conntrack->status);
> diff -urN --exclude-from=diff.exclude linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c
> --- linux-2.4.20-base/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c	Fri Nov 29 00:53:15 2002
> +++ linux-2.4.20-del/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c	Fri Feb 21 21:10:37 2003
> @@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
>  }
>  
>  static unsigned int
> -print_conntrack(char *buffer, const struct ip_conntrack *conntrack)
> +print_conntrack(char *buffer, struct ip_conntrack *conntrack)
>  {
>  	unsigned int len;
>  	struct ip_conntrack_protocol *proto
> @@ -95,12 +95,12 @@
>  	len += print_tuple(buffer + len,
>  			   &conntrack->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL].tuple,
>  			   proto);
> -	if (!(conntrack->status & IPS_SEEN_REPLY))
> +	if (!(test_bit(IPS_SEEN_REPLY_BIT, &conntrack->status)))
>  		len += sprintf(buffer + len, "[UNREPLIED] ");
>  	len += print_tuple(buffer + len,
>  			   &conntrack->tuplehash[IP_CT_DIR_REPLY].tuple,
>  			   proto);
> -	if (conntrack->status & IPS_ASSURED)
> +	if (test_bit(IPS_ASSURED_BIT, &conntrack->status))
>  		len += sprintf(buffer + len, "[ASSURED] ");
>  	len += sprintf(buffer + len, "use=%u ",
>  		       atomic_read(&conntrack->ct_general.use));
> 
> --
> - Harald Welte <laforge a netfilter.org>             http://www.netfilter.org/
> ============================================================================
>   "Fragmentation is like classful addressing -- an interesting early
>    architectural error that shows how much experimentation was going
>    on while IP was being designed."                    -- Paul Vixie



More information about the pluto-security mailing list