GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2: Cortex m rt Miscompilation Vulnerability

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Advisory Summary

GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2 is a MODERATE miscompilation vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Cortex m rt libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves miscompilation in cortex-m-rt 0.7.1 and 0.7.2. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.7.3.

GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2 at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Cortex m rt
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2

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

cortex-m-rt fixed: 0.7.3 
Upgrade cortex-m-rt to 0.7.3
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 cortex-m-rt

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2, inspect your project dependencies for Cortex m rt:

inspect dependencies for cortex-m-rt

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Cortex m rt in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.7.3), 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 General Security Weakness. In Cortex m rt, 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

Version 0.7.1 of the `cortex-m-rt` crate introduced a regression causing the stack to NOT be eight-byte aligned prior to calling `main` (or any other specified entrypoint), violating the [stack ABI of AAPCS32], the default ABI used by all Cortex-M targets. This regression is also present in version 0.7.2 of the `cortex-m-rt` crate. This regression can cause certain compiler optimizations (which assume the eight-byte alignment) to produce incorrect behavior at runtime. This incorrect behavior has been [observed in real-world applications]. **It is advised that ALL users of `v0.7.1` and `v0.7.2` of the `cortex-m-rt` crate update to the latest version (`v0.7.3`), AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.** Users of `v0.7.0` and prior versions of `cortex-m-rt` are not affected by this regression. It will be necessary to rebuild all affected firmware binaries, and flash or deploy the new firmware binaries to affected devices. [stack ABI of AAPCS32]: https://github.com/ARM-software/abi-aa/blob/edd7460d87493fff124b8b5713acf71ffc06ee91/aapcs32/aapcs32.rst#6212stack-constraints-at-a-public-interface [observed in real-world applications]: https://github.com/peter9477/test2

GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2 Affected Cortex m rt Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.7.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
cortex-m-rt
 crates.io
≥ 0.7.0
< 0.7.3
0.7.3

References

Cortex m rt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rust-embedded/cortex-m
Cortex m rt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rust-embedded/cortex-m/discussions/469
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0014.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2?
GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2 is a security vulnerability in Cortex m rt involving Miscompilation in cortex-m-rt 0.7.1 and 0.7.2 under General Security Weakness.
Which Cortex m rt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.7.3 across affected packages: cortex-m-rt.
What version fixes GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2?
Upgrading to 0.7.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is cortex-m-rt affected?
Yes, cortex-m-rt is affected in releases prior to 0.7.3. Upgrade your dependency to 0.7.3 or later.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2?
GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check crates.io dependencies for GHSA-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for cortex-m-rt'. 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-xw5j-gv2g-mjm2",
  "modified" : "2023-02-14T21:53:37Z",
  "published" : "2023-02-14T21:53:37Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "Miscompilation in cortex-m-rt 0.7.1 and 0.7.2",
  "details" : "Version 0.7.1 of the `cortex-m-rt` crate introduced a regression causing the stack to NOT be eight-byte aligned prior to calling `main` (or any other specified entrypoint), violating the [stack ABI of AAPCS32], the default ABI used by all Cortex-M targets. This regression is also present in version 0.7.2 of the `cortex-m-rt` crate.\n\nThis regression can cause certain compiler optimizations (which assume the eight-byte alignment) to produce incorrect behavior at runtime. This incorrect behavior has been [observed in real-world applications].\n\n**It is advised that ALL users of `v0.7.1` and `v0.7.2` of the `cortex-m-rt` crate update to the latest version (`v0.7.3`), AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.** Users of `v0.7.0` and prior versions of `cortex-m-rt` are not affected by this regression.\n\nIt will be necessary to rebuild all affected firmware binaries, and flash or deploy the new firmware binaries to affected devices.\n\n[stack ABI of AAPCS32]: https://github.com/ARM-software/abi-aa/blob/edd7460d87493fff124b8b5713acf71ffc06ee91/aapcs32/aapcs32.rst#6212stack-constraints-at-a-public-interface\n[observed in real-world applications]: https://github.com/peter9477/test2\n",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "cortex-m-rt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.7.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.7.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rust-embedded/cortex-m"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rust-embedded/cortex-m/discussions/469"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0014.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-02-14T21:53:37Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}