CVE-2023-33114: NPU Memory Corruption Leading to Potential System Compromise or Data Leakage

Overview

The cybersecurity field has witnessed the emergence of a new vulnerability, CVE-2023-33114, posing a significant risk to the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data. This vulnerability, which resides in the running of the Network Processing Unit (NPU), affects an array of systems that rely on this hardware component. The vulnerability exhibits its impact when NETWORK_UNLOAD and (NETWORK_UNLOAD or NETWORK_EXECUTE_V2) commands are submitted simultaneously, leading to memory corruption. The severity of this vulnerability is undeniable, as it could potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage, underscoring the urgency for immediate and effective mitigation actions.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2023-33114
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.4)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise and/or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

NPU-enabled devices | All versions prior to the patch

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a concurrency issue that occurs when NETWORK_UNLOAD and either another NETWORK_UNLOAD or NETWORK_EXECUTE_V2 commands are submitted simultaneously. This dual submission of commands triggers a memory corruption within the NPU. A skilled attacker can manipulate this corrupted memory to alter the normal execution of commands, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the system or causing data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited using shell commands:

# Attacker submits both commands simultaneously
npu_command NETWORK_UNLOAD &
npu_command NETWORK_EXECUTE_V2 &

In this example, `NETWORK_UNLOAD` and `NETWORK_EXECUTE_V2` commands are sent at the same time, causing a race condition that results in memory corruption in the NPU. An attacker could use this corrupted state to compromise the system or leak sensitive data.