CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-10972NVD status: Deferred

WinPmem: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2024-10972 is a high-severity time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in WinPmem from Velocidex, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with administrator privileges, without any action from a user. Affected WinPmem versions: <= 4.1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.16% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of WinPmem you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
VelocidexWinPmem<= 4.1Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
HighAdministrator-level access is required first.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
LowSome restricted data can be read.
Integrity
LowLimited modification of data is possible.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H. Scored by CNA (rapid7.com).

Official description

Velocidex WinPmem versions 4.1 and below suffer from an Improper Input Validation vulnerability whereby an attacker with admin access can trigger a BSOD with a parallel thread changing the memory’s access right under the control of the user-mode application. This is due to verification only being performed at the beginning of the routine allowing the userspace to change page permissions half way through the routine. A valid workaround is a rule to detect unauthorized loading of winpmem outside incident response operations.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • The most basic advice for TOCTOU vulnerabilities is to not perform a check before the use. This does not resolve the underlying issue of the execution of a function on a resource whose state and identity cannot be assured, but it does help to limit the false sense of security given by the check.
  • When the file being altered is owned by the current user and group, set the effective gid and uid to that of the current user and group when executing this statement.
  • Limit the interleaving of operations on files from multiple processes.

More Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition vulnerabilities (CWE-367)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in WinPmem

All WinPmem vulnerabilities

Recent Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition vulnerabilities

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