CVE-2021-45701
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the tremor-script Rust crate allows use-after-free memory corruption when performing patch operations. Attackers could exploit this to execute arbitrary code, crash applications, or leak sensitive data. Any Rust application using tremor-script versions before 0.11.6 is affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- tremor-script Rust crate
📦 What is this software?
Tremor Script by Linuxfoundation
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or service disruption.
Likely Case
Application crashes causing denial of service, potential memory corruption leading to unpredictable behavior.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper memory isolation and sandboxing, but still potential for crashes.
🎯 Exploit Status
Use-after-free vulnerabilities typically require specific conditions to trigger but can be exploited remotely if the application processes untrusted input.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.11.6 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0111.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Cargo.toml to require tremor-script >=0.11.6
2. Run 'cargo update tremor-script'
3. Rebuild and redeploy your application
4. Restart any running services using the updated application
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable patch operations
allAvoid using patch functionality in tremor-script if possible
Modify application code to remove or bypass patch operations
Input validation
allImplement strict input validation for data passed to tremor-script
Add validation layers before tremor-script processes external data
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate vulnerable applications in network segments with strict access controls
- Implement application-level firewalls to filter malicious inputs before reaching tremor-script
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Cargo.lock or run 'cargo tree | grep tremor-script' to see installed versionCheck Version:
grep tremor-script Cargo.lock | head -1Verify Fix Applied:
Verify tremor-script version is 0.11.6 or higher in Cargo.lock after update📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with segmentation faults
- Memory corruption errors in logs
- Unexpected process termination
Network Indicators:
- Unusual network patterns from affected services
- Increased error rates in API responses
SIEM Query:
source="application.logs" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "use-after-free" OR "memory corruption") AND process="*tremor*"🔗 References
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rustsec/advisory-db/main/crates/tremor-script/RUSTSEC-2021-0111.md
- https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0111.html
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rustsec/advisory-db/main/crates/tremor-script/RUSTSEC-2021-0111.md
- https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2021-0111.html
