CVE-2020-35879: Rulinalg Data Races Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-q2gj-9r85-p832
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-362
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-35879 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) data races vulnerability (CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')) affecting Rulinalg libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves data races in rulinalg. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2020-35879 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-35879
GHSA Identifier GHSA-q2gj-9r85-p832
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
Affected Product Rulinalg
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-2020-35879

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

rulinalg fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade rulinalg to Latest secure release
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 rulinalg

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2020-35879, inspect your project dependencies for Rulinalg:

inspect dependencies for rulinalg

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Rulinalg in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), 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-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition'), where the product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently. In Rulinalg, 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 affected version of rulinalg has incorrect lifetime boundary definitions for RowMut::raw_slice and RowMut::raw_slice_mut. They do not conform with Rust's borrowing rule and allows the user to create multiple mutable references to the same location. This may result in unexpected calculation result and data race if both references are used at the same time.

CVE-2020-35879 Affected Rulinalg Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
rulinalg
 crates.io
≥ 0.4.0
≤ 0.4.2

References

NVD — CVE-2020-35879 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-35879
Rulinalg Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/AtheMathmo/rulinalg/issues/201
Rulinalg Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/AtheMathmo/rulinalg
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2020-0023.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-35879?
CVE-2020-35879 is a security vulnerability in Rulinalg involving Data races in rulinalg under CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition').
Which Rulinalg versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: rulinalg.
What version fixes CVE-2020-35879?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is rulinalg affected?
Yes, rulinalg is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-35879?
CVE-2020-35879 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-2020-35879?
CVE-2020-35879 is classified under CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') (The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2020-35879?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for rulinalg'. 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-q2gj-9r85-p832",
  "modified" : "2023-06-13T20:47:12Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-25T20:48:09Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-35879" ],
  "summary" : "Data races in rulinalg",
  "details" : "The affected version of rulinalg has incorrect lifetime boundary definitions for RowMut::raw_slice and RowMut::raw_slice_mut. They do not conform with Rust's borrowing rule and allows the user to create multiple mutable references to the same location. This may result in unexpected calculation result and data race if both references are used at the same time.",
  "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" : "rulinalg"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.4.0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.4.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-35879"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/AtheMathmo/rulinalg/issues/201"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/AtheMathmo/rulinalg"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2020-0023.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-362" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-19T21:06:56Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}