CVE-2021-3470 : What You Need to Know

CVE-2021-3470 is a heap overflow vulnerability discovered in Redis versions prior to 5.0.10, 6.0.9, and 6.2.0 when using a heap allocator other than jemalloc or glibc's malloc. This vulnerability could result in potential out-of-bound writes or crashes for affected systems.

Understanding CVE-2021-3470

This section will cover the details of the CVE-2021-3470 vulnerability, its impact, technical details, and mitigation steps.

What is CVE-2021-3470?

The CVE-2021-3470 vulnerability is a heap overflow issue found in Redis versions before 5.0.10, 6.0.9, and 6.2.0, affecting systems that use a heap allocator other than jemalloc or glibc's malloc. This flaw could lead to out-of-bound writes or process crashes.

The Impact of CVE-2021-3470

The vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker to perform out-of-bound writes or cause service crashes, potentially leading to a denial of service condition. However, it mainly affects systems using allocators other than jemalloc or glibc malloc.

Technical Details of CVE-2021-3470

This section delves into the vulnerability description, affected systems and versions, as well as the exploitation mechanism.

Vulnerability Description

The heap overflow issue in Redis versions before 5.0.10, 6.0.9, and 6.2.0 occurs when utilizing a heap allocator other than jemalloc or glibc malloc, posing the risk of out-of-bound writes or process crashes.

Affected Systems and Versions

The vulnerability impacts systems running Redis versions prior to 5.0.10, 6.0.9, and 6.2.0 when not using jemalloc or glibc's malloc for heap allocation.

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers could exploit this vulnerability by triggering out-of-bound writes through specially crafted requests, potentially leading to service disruptions.

Mitigation and Prevention

In this section, we discuss the immediate steps to take, long-term security practices, and the importance of patching and updates.

Immediate Steps to Take

System administrators should update Redis to versions 5.0.10, 6.0.9, or 6.2.0 to mitigate the heap overflow vulnerability. Additionally, consider switching to jemalloc or glibc malloc as heap allocators.

Long-Term Security Practices

To enhance security posture, organizations should regularly update software, follow secure coding practices, and employ relevant security mechanisms to prevent similar vulnerabilities.

Patching and Updates

It is crucial to stay informed about security patches released by Redis and promptly apply updates to address known vulnerabilities like CVE-2021-3470.