block_buffer: panic corrupts inline buffer position
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- The rating the maker of the software gives it. Shown when it differs from the CVSS level.What do these mean? →
- Medium (ghsa)
- Fix
- Fixed in 0.12.1
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
The `block_buffer` Rust crate, which provides buffering primitives for block-based cryptographic digests and stream ciphers, is affected. If a caller-supplied callback panics and the panic is caught, the buffer's internal cursor can be left in an invalid state, which may allow out-of-bounds memory reads or writes.
Summarized by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5. Verify details against the original sources.
Read the original description
A caught panic may leave the cursor position of `EagerBuffer` or `ReadBuffer` in a corrupted state; this in turn allows out-of-bounds reads/writes. Details & PoC The following two tests fail miri: ```rust #[cfg(miri)] #[test] fn eager_digest_blocks_panic_corrupts_inline_position() { // `EagerBuffer` stores its cursor in the last byte of the internal block. // When `digest_blocks` completes a previously partial block, it overwrites // that byte with input data before invoking the caller-provided `compress` // callback. If the callback panics, safe code can catch the panic and keep // using the buffer while its cursor byte no longer satisfies the internal // `pos < block_size` invariant. Under Miri this `get_pos` call reaches the // `unreachable_unchecked` used for the assumed-valid cursor. let mut buf = EagerBuffer::<U4>::new(&[1, 2]); let _ = std::panic::catch_unwind(std::panic::AssertUnwindSafe(|| { buf.digest_blocks(&[3, 0xff], |_| panic!("simulated compression failure")); })); let _ = buf.get_pos(); } #[cfg(miri)] #[test] fn read_buffer_generator_panic_corrupts_inline_position() { // `ReadBuffer` stores its cursor in `buffer[0]`, but `write_block` gives // `gen_block` mutable access to the whole internal block before restoring // `buffer[0]` to a valid cursor. If `gen_block` writes an arbitrary first // byte and panics, safe code can catch the panic and later observe an // invalid cursor. Under Miri this `get_pos` call reaches the // `unreachable_unchecked` used for the assumed-valid cursor. let mut buf = ReadBuffer::<U4>::default(); let _ = std::panic::catch_unwind(std::panic::AssertUnwindSafe(|| { buf.write_block( 1, |block| { block[0] = 0xff; panic!("simulated block generation failure"); }, |_| {}, ); })); let _ = buf.get_pos(); } ``` They fail on an `unreachable_unchecked!()` under the invariant for the `pos` to always be within bounds of the block. Impact While the byte that overwrites `pos` may come from untrusted input and is therefore attacker-controlled, this still relies on the surrounding code catching the panic and carrying on, which should be uncommon in practice. For this to be exploitable, the attacker also needs a way to trigger a panic here; I have not investigated how feasible that is. Credits The issue was discovered by GPT-5.5
Timeline
- Advisory published
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- block_buffercrates.io
fixed in 0.12.1