CVE-2021-25907: Containers Double Free Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-cv7x-6rc6-pq5v
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-415
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-25907 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) double free vulnerability (CWE-415: Double Free) affecting Containers libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves double free in containers. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.9.11.

CVE-2021-25907 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-25907
GHSA Identifier GHSA-cv7x-6rc6-pq5v
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-415: Double Free
Affected Product Containers
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-2021-25907

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

containers fixed: 0.9.11 
Upgrade containers to 0.9.11
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 containers

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2021-25907, inspect your project dependencies for Containers:

inspect dependencies for containers

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Containers in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.9.11), 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-415: Double Free, where the product calls free() twice on the same memory address. In Containers, 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

Upon panic in a user-provided function f, fn mutate() & fn mutate2 drops twice a same object. Affected versions of this crate did not guard against double drop while temporarily duplicating an object's ownership with ptr::read(). Dropping a same object can result in memory corruption. The flaw was corrected in version "0.9.11" by fixing the code to abort upon panic.

CVE-2021-25907 Affected Containers Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.9.11
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
containers
 crates.io
< 0.9.11
0.9.11

References

NVD — CVE-2021-25907 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25907
Containers Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/strake/containers.rs
Containers Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/strake/containers.rs/issues/2
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0010.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-25907?
CVE-2021-25907 is a security vulnerability in Containers involving Double free in containers under CWE-415: Double Free.
Which Containers versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.9.11 across affected packages: containers.
What version fixes CVE-2021-25907?
Upgrading to 0.9.11 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is containers affected?
Yes, containers is affected in releases prior to 0.9.11. Upgrade your dependency to 0.9.11 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-25907?
CVE-2021-25907 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-2021-25907?
CVE-2021-25907 is classified under CWE-415: Double Free (The product calls free() twice on the same memory address.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2021-25907?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for containers'. 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-cv7x-6rc6-pq5v",
  "modified" : "2023-06-13T17:00:36Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-25T20:53:05Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-25907" ],
  "summary" : "Double free in containers",
  "details" : "Upon panic in a user-provided function f, fn mutate() & fn mutate2 drops twice a same object.\n\nAffected versions of this crate did not guard against double drop while temporarily duplicating an object's ownership with ptr::read().\n\nDropping a same object can result in memory corruption.\n\nThe flaw was corrected in version \"0.9.11\" by fixing the code to abort upon panic.",
  "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" : "containers"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.9.11"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25907"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/strake/containers.rs/issues/2"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/strake/containers.rs"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0010.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-415" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-19T18:40:39Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}