Improper input validation in Micron Ddr4 Sdram
CVE-2021-42114
Modern DRAM devices (PC-DDR4, LPDDR4X) are affected by a vulnerability in their internal Target Row Refresh (TRR) mitigation against Rowhammer attacks. Novel non-uniform Rowhammer access patterns, consisting of aggressors with different frequencies, phases, and amplitudes allow triggering bit flips on affected memory modules using our Blacksmith fuzzer. The patterns generated by Blacksmith were able to trigger bitflips on all 40 PC-DDR4 DRAM devices in our test pool, which cover the three major DRAM manufacturers: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. This means that, even when chips advertised as Rowhammer-free are used, attackers may still be able to exploit Rowhammer. For example, this enables privilege-escalation attacks against the kernel or binaries such as the sudo binary, and also triggering bit flips in RSA-2048 keys (e.g., SSH keys) to gain cross-tenant virtual-machine access. We can confirm that DRAM devices acquired in July 2020 with DRAM chips from all three major DRAM vendors (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron) are affected by this vulnerability. For more details, please refer to our publication.
Vulnerability class: Drupalgeddon 2 (CVE-2018-7600)
EPSS: 0.029 (85.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 9.0 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- vulnerability@ncsc.ch (Exploit, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC)
- vulnerability@ncsc.ch (Exploit, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC)
- vulnerability@ncsc.ch (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2021-42114?
- CVE-2021-42114 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Micron Ddr4 Sdram, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 9.0/10. Published 2021-11-16.
- How severe is CVE-2021-42114?
- Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.0 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2021-42114 known to be exploited?
- 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.