CVE-2020-24385 : What You Need to Know

In MidnightBSD before 1.2.6 and 1.3 before August 2020, and FreeBSD before 7, a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux emulation layer can lead to a kernel crash.

Understanding CVE-2020-24385

This CVE describes a vulnerability in the Linux emulation layer of MidnightBSD and FreeBSD systems.

What is CVE-2020-24385?

A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux emulation layer can be exploited by attackers to crash the running kernel.

The Impact of CVE-2020-24385

This vulnerability allows attackers to crash the kernel, potentially leading to a denial of service (DoS) condition.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-24385

This section provides more technical insights into the CVE.

Vulnerability Description

The issue arises from the uninitialized td->td_emuldata in sys/compat/linux/linux_emul.h, resulting in a NULL return from em_find() during binary interaction.

Affected Systems and Versions

MidnightBSD versions before 1.2.6 and 1.3 before August 2020
FreeBSD versions before 7

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to crash the kernel by triggering the NULL pointer dereference in the Linux emulation layer.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protecting systems from CVE-2020-24385 requires immediate actions and long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply patches or updates provided by the respective vendors promptly.
Monitor vendor security advisories for mitigation guidance.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update and patch systems to address known vulnerabilities.
Implement proper access controls and network segmentation to limit the impact of potential attacks.
Conduct regular security assessments and audits to identify and remediate vulnerabilities.
Stay informed about security best practices and emerging threats.
Consider implementing intrusion detection/prevention systems to detect and block malicious activities.

Patching and Updates

Check for and apply patches released by MidnightBSD and FreeBSD to address the NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the Linux emulation layer.