CVE-2021-38190: Nalgebra Out Of Bounds Write Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3w8g-xr3f-2mp8
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-787 CWE-119
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-38190 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) out of bounds write vulnerability (CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write) affecting Nalgebra libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves out of bounds write in nalgebra. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.27.1.

CVE-2021-38190 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-38190
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3w8g-xr3f-2mp8
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write
Affected Product Nalgebra
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2021-38190

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Nalgebra dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

nalgebra fixed: 0.27.1 
Upgrade nalgebra to 0.27.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for nalgebra

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2021-38190, inspect your project dependencies for Nalgebra:

inspect dependencies for nalgebra

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Nalgebra in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.27.1), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write, where the product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. In Nalgebra, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The `Deserialize` implementation for `VecStorage` did not maintain the invariant that the number of elements must equal `nrows * ncols`. Deserialization of specially crafted inputs could allow memory access beyond allocation of the vector. This flaw was introduced in v0.11.0 ([`086e6e`](https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/commit/086e6e719f53fecba6dadad2e953a487976387f5)) due to the addition of an automatically derived implementation of `Deserialize` for `MatrixVec`. `MatrixVec` was later renamed to `VecStorage` in v0.16.13 ([`0f66403`](https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/commit/0f66403cbbe9eeac15cedd8a906c0d6a3d8841f2)) and continued to use the automatically derived implementation of `Deserialize`.

CVE-2021-38190 Affected Nalgebra Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.27.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
nalgebra
 crates.io
≥ 0.11.0
< 0.27.1
0.27.1

References

NVD — CVE-2021-38190 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38190
Nalgebra Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/issues/883
Nalgebra Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/pull/889
Nalgebra Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/commit/a803271fcce75b7c151e92aa099dfa546db4adc5
Nalgebra Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/blob/dev/CHANGELOG.md#0270
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0070.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-38190?
CVE-2021-38190 is a security vulnerability in Nalgebra involving Out of bounds write in nalgebra under CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write.
Which Nalgebra versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.27.1 across affected packages: nalgebra.
What version fixes CVE-2021-38190?
Upgrading to 0.27.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is nalgebra affected?
Yes, nalgebra is affected in releases prior to 0.27.1. Upgrade your dependency to 0.27.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-38190?
CVE-2021-38190 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-38190?
CVE-2021-38190 is classified under CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write (The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2021-38190?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for nalgebra'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-3w8g-xr3f-2mp8",
  "modified" : "2021-08-24T18:08:59Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-25T20:55:49Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-38190" ],
  "summary" : "Out of bounds write in nalgebra",
  "details" : "The `Deserialize` implementation for `VecStorage` did not maintain the invariant that the number of elements must equal `nrows * ncols`. Deserialization of specially crafted inputs could allow memory access beyond allocation of the vector.\n\nThis flaw was introduced in v0.11.0 ([`086e6e`](https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/commit/086e6e719f53fecba6dadad2e953a487976387f5)) due to the addition of an automatically derived implementation of `Deserialize` for `MatrixVec`. `MatrixVec` was later renamed to `VecStorage` in v0.16.13 ([`0f66403`](https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/commit/0f66403cbbe9eeac15cedd8a906c0d6a3d8841f2)) and continued to use the automatically derived implementation of `Deserialize`.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "nalgebra"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.11.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.27.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38190"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/issues/883"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/pull/889"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/commit/a803271fcce75b7c151e92aa099dfa546db4adc5"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dimforge/nalgebra/blob/dev/CHANGELOG.md#0270"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0070.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-119", "CWE-787" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-18T21:30:58Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-08-08T06:15:00Z"
  }
}