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Linked List AllocatorApplication · Rust Osdev

CVE-2022-36086

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.10.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
linked_list_allocator is an allocator usable for no_std systems. Prior to version 0.10.2, the heap initialization methods were missing a minimum size check for the given heap size argument. This could lead to out-of-bound writes when a heap was initialized with a size smaller than `3 * size_of::<usize>` because of metadata write operations. This vulnerability impacts all the initialization functions on the `Heap` and `LockedHeap` types, including `Heap::new`, `Heap::init`, `Heap::init_from_slice`, and `LockedHeap::new`. It also affects multiple uses of the `Heap::extend` method. Version 0.10.2 contains a patch for the issue. As a workaround, ensure that the heap is only initialized with a size larger than `3 * size_of::<usize>` and that the `Heap::extend` method is only called with sizes larger than `2 * size_of::<usize>()`. Also, ensure that the total heap size is (and stays) a multiple of `2 * size_of::<usize>()`.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-119

The program reads or writes outside the bounds of an allocated buffer, corrupting adjacent memory. With crafted input an attacker can overwrite control data and, with effort, redirect execution to their own code. Remediation ranges from bounds checking and safe library functions to compiler mitigations, usually alongside a careful audit of the surrounding code.

General guidance for the memory buffer bounds error class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linked List AllocatorApplication
Affected:< 0.10.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.10.2 or later
Fixed in 0.10.2
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

linked-list-allocator version 0.10.2

  1. 1. Locate the linked-list-allocator dependency in your Cargo.toml or Cargo.lock file
  2. 2. Update the version of the linked-list-allocator crate to version 0.10.2 or later
  3. 3. Run `cargo update` to refresh the dependency lock file
  4. 4. Rebuild your project to verify the updated allocator is being used
  5. 5. If using the Heap or LockedHeap initialization methods, ensure the heap size passed is greater than `3 * size_of::<usize>()` (typically 24 bytes on 64-bit systems)
  6. 6. If using Heap::extend, ensure the size argument is greater than `2 * size_of::<usize>()` (typically 16 bytes on 64-bit systems)
  7. 7. Verify the total heap size remains a multiple of `2 * size_of::<usize>()` (typically 16 bytes on 64-bit systems)

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-36086 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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