VMware Workstation 3D Accel UAF: Priv Esc via Refcount Bug
CVE-2023-5633 Published on October 23, 2023

Kernel: vmwgfx: reference count issue leads to use-after-free in surface handling
The reference count changes made as part of the CVE-2023-33951 and CVE-2023-33952 fixes exposed a use-after-free flaw in the way memory objects were handled when they were being used to store a surface. When running inside a VMware guest with 3D acceleration enabled, a local, unprivileged user could potentially use this flaw to escalate their privileges.

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Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2023-5633 can be exploited with local system access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be very high.

Attack Vector:
LOCAL
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
LOW
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
HIGH
Integrity Impact:
HIGH
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Timeline

Reported to Red Hat.

Made public.

Weakness Type

Improper Update of Reference Count

The software uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count. Reference counts can be used when tracking how many objects contain a reference to a particular resource, such as in memory management or garbage collection. When the reference count reaches zero, the resource can be de-allocated or reused because there are no more objects that use it. If the reference count accidentally reaches zero, then the resource might be released too soon, even though it is still in use. If all objects no longer use the resource, but the reference count is not zero, then the resource might not ever be released.


Products Associated with CVE-2023-5633

You can be notified by email with stack.watch whenever vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-5633 are published in these products:

Linux Kernel
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
 
Canonical Ubuntu Linux
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux For Real Time
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time Nfv
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Tus
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Eus
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Aus
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Power Little Endian Update Services Sap Solutions
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Power Little Endian Eus
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Arm64 Eus
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Ibm Z Systems Eus
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Ibm Z Systems
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Arm64
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Eus
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Arm 64 Eus
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux For Arm 64
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Power Little Endian
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Ibm Z Systems Eus
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Ibm Z Systems
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Power Little Endian Eus
 
Red Hat Codeready Linux Builder Power Little Endian
 
Red Hat Rhel Eus
 

Affected Versions

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Extended Update Support: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Extended Update Support: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

Exploit Probability

EPSS
0.01%
Percentile
2.83%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.