CVE-2022-1238
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability is a heap buffer overflow in radare2's NE file format parser that allows writing beyond allocated memory boundaries. Attackers could exploit this to execute arbitrary code or crash the application. Users of radare2 versions prior to 5.6.8 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- radare2
📦 What is this software?
Radare2 by Radare
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise if radare2 processes untrusted NE files from network sources.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) when processing malformed NE files, potentially leading to local privilege escalation if radare2 runs with elevated privileges.
If Mitigated
Limited to denial of service if proper sandboxing and privilege separation are implemented.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting a malicious NE file and convincing a user to analyze it with radare2. No public exploit code is known.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 5.6.8 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/radareorg/radare2/commit/c40a4f9862104ede15d0ba05ccbf805923070778
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update radare2 to version 5.6.8 or later using your package manager. 2. For source installations: git pull from radare2 repository and rebuild. 3. Verify the fix by checking the version with 'r2 -v'.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable NE file analysis
allPrevent radare2 from processing NE format files by modifying configuration or using wrapper scripts.
# Create wrapper script that filters NE files
#!/bin/bash
if [[ "$1" == *.ne || "$1" == *.exe ]]; then
echo "NE file analysis disabled due to CVE-2022-1238"
exit 1
fi
r2 "$@"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Run radare2 with reduced privileges (non-root user, sandboxed environment)
- Implement strict file validation before processing with radare2, rejecting untrusted NE files
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Run 'r2 -v' and check if version is below 5.6.8. If radare2 crashes when analyzing a test NE file, it may be vulnerable.Check Version:
r2 -v | head -1Verify Fix Applied:
Check version with 'r2 -v' confirms 5.6.8 or higher. Test with known problematic NE files to ensure no crashes.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Radare2 crash logs with segmentation faults
- Unexpected process termination when analyzing executable files
- System logs showing radare2 accessing unexpected memory regions
Network Indicators:
- Downloads of NE format files followed by radare2 execution
- Network transfers of suspicious executable files to systems running radare2
SIEM Query:
process_name:"r2" AND (event_type:"crash" OR exit_code:139)