Local privilege escalation via exposed MPU privilege paths
Published Nov 17, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024
Privilege escalation in FreeRTOS 10.4.6 and earlier allows local users with injected code to gain kernel privilege. Non-kernel code can call xPortRaisePrivilege directly in 10.2.0 through 10.4.5, while a crafted stack frame can branch inside an MPU API wrapper through 10.4.6 because xRunningPrivileged remains on the local stack. The flaw is limited to ARMv7-M MPU ports and ARMv8-M ports with configENABLE_MPU set to 1, and exploitation requires prior injected-code execution.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in FreeRTOS 10.4.6 and earlier allows local users with injected code to gain kernel privilege. Non-kernel code can call xPortRaisePrivilege directly in 10.2.0 through 10.4.5, while a crafted stack frame can branch inside an MPU API wrapper through 10.4.6 because xRunningPrivileged remains on the local stack. The flaw is limited to ARMv7-M MPU ports and ARMv8-M ports with configENABLE_MPU set to 1, and exploitation requires prior injected-code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-43997
- Published
- Nov 17, 2021
- Updated
- Aug 4, 2024
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 17, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo