The PTR_MANGLE implementation in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.4, 2.17, and earlier, and Embedded GLIBC (EGLIBC) does not initialize the random value for the pointer guard, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to control execution flow by leveraging a buffer-overflow vulnerability in an application and using the known zero value pointer guard to calculate a pointer address.
The MITRE CVE dictionary describes this issue as:
Find out more about CVE-2013-4788 from the MITRE CVE dictionary dictionary and NIST NVD.
Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this issue as having Low security impact. This issue is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/ .
NOTE: The following CVSS v2 metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
| Base Score | 3.7 |
|---|---|
| Base Metrics | AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P |
| Access Vector | Local |
| Access Complexity | High |
| Authentication | None |
| Confidentiality Impact | Partial |
| Integrity Impact | Partial |
| Availability Impact | Partial |
Find out more about Red Hat support for the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
| Platform | Package | State |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | glibc | Not affected |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | glibc | Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | glibc | Will not fix |
Vulmon