CVE-2020-8937 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

An arbitrary memory overwrite vulnerability in Asylo versions up to 0.6.0 allows an attacker to write memory values from within the enclave.

Understanding CVE-2020-8937

This CVE involves an arbitrary enclave memory location write vulnerability in Asylo versions up to 0.6.0.

What is CVE-2020-8937?

CVE-2020-8937 is a vulnerability in Asylo that enables an attacker to perform an arbitrary memory overwrite within the enclave, potentially leading to unauthorized access and manipulation of sensitive data.

The Impact of CVE-2020-8937

The vulnerability has a CVSS base score of 5.3, indicating a medium severity issue. It poses a high confidentiality impact and a low integrity impact, with low privileges required for exploitation.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-8937

This section provides detailed technical information about the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability allows an attacker to make a host call to enc_untrusted_create_wait_queue, utilizing a pointer queue that fails to validate the pointer's location. This flaw enables the attacker to write memory values from within the enclave.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: Asylo
Vendor: Google LLC
Versions Affected: Up to 0.6.0

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability can be exploited by leveraging the pointer queue in enc_untrusted_create_wait_queue, which does not properly validate the pointer's location, allowing unauthorized memory writes.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protect your systems from CVE-2020-8937 with the following steps:

Immediate Steps to Take

Upgrade Asylo to a version beyond 0.6.0, specifically past commit a37fb6a0e7daf30134dbbf357c9a518a1026aa02.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update and patch software to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Implement secure coding practices to prevent memory-related vulnerabilities.

Patching and Updates

Ensure timely application of security patches and updates to address known vulnerabilities.