Security Vulnerability in the Solaris Kernel Involving the Interaction of the Filesystem and Virtual Memory Subsystems

---

Security Vulnerability in the Solaris Kernel Involving the Interaction of the Filesystem and Virtual Memory Subsystems

1. Impact

A security vulnerability in the Solaris kernel related to the interaction of the filesystem and virtual memory subsystems may allow a local unprivileged user to cause the system to slow down and eventually cease operating, thereby resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).

2. Contributing Factors

SPARC Platform:

• Solaris 8 without patch 127721-02
• Solaris 9 without patch 122300-41
• Solaris 10 without patch 139555-08
• OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_01 through snv_102

x86 Platform:

• Solaris 8 without patch 127722-02
• Solaris 9 without patch 122301-41
• Solaris 10 without patch 139556-08
• OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_01 through snv_102

Note: Solaris 8 entered EOSL Phase 2 on 1 April 2009. Entitlement to patches developed on or after 1 April 2009 requires the purchase of the Solaris 8 Vintage Patch Service. See Note in section 5 for more details.

OpenSolaris distributions may include additional bug fixes above and beyond the build from which it was derived. The base build can be derived as follows:

$ uname -v
snv_101

3. Symptoms

If this issue is exploited to cause a Denial of Service (DoS), the system may slow down gradually and eventually stop all activities. When using the ps(1) command to examine the process information, the ps(1) command may never complete, and it may not be possible to terminate it with the kill(1) command or an interrupt signal (normally mapped to 'Ctrl+C' on the keyboard). There may be a kernel thread stuck on a page lock indicated through a stack similar to the following (this could be seen, for example, using a kernel debugger such as mdb(1)):

page_lock_es()
[......]
pagefault()
trap()
ktl0()
xcopyin( )
uiomove ( )
[......]
write( )

Note that while CR#1246893 exhibits the symptom described as above, this symptom may not be unique to this bug.

4. Workaround

There is no workaround for this issue. Please see the Resolution section below.

5. Resolution

This issue is addressed in the following releases:

SPARC Platform:

• Solaris 8 with patch 127721-02 or later
  
• Solaris 9 with patch 122300-41 or later
  
• Solaris 10 with patch 139555-08 or later
• OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_103 or later

x86 Platform:

• Solaris 8 with patch 127722-02 or later
  
• Solaris 9 with patch 122301-41 or later
  
• Solaris 10 with patch 139556-08 or later
• OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_103 or later

Note: The READMEs of Solaris 8 patches developed on or after 1 April 2009 are available to all customers however Solaris 8 entered EOSL Phase 2 on April 1, 2009 and thus entitlement for these patches, including those that fix security vulnerabilities, requires the purchase of the Solaris 8 Vintage Patch Service. More information about the Solaris 8 Vintage Patch Service is available at:


For more information on Security Sun Alerts, see Technical Instruction ID 213557.

This Sun Alert notification is being provided to you on an "AS IS" basis. This Sun Alert notification may contain information provided by third parties. The issues described in this Sun Alert notification may or may not impact your system(s). Sun makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees as to the information contained herein. ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. BY ACCESSING THIS DOCUMENT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUN SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT ARISE OUT OF YOUR USE OR FAILURE TO USE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. This Sun Alert notification contains Sun proprietary and confidential information. It is being provided to you pursuant to the provisions of your agreement to purchase services from Sun, or, if you do not have such an agreement, the Sun.com Terms of Use. This Sun Alert notification may only be used for the purposes contemplated by these agreements.

Copyright 2000-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054 U.S.A. All rights reserved.




Attachments

This solution has no attachment