CVE-2022-44369
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2022-44369 is a null pointer dereference vulnerability in NASM 2.16 development version that can cause denial of service through application crashes. This affects users who process untrusted assembly files with vulnerable NASM versions. The vulnerability is triggered during aout format output generation.
💻 Affected Systems
- Netwide Assembler (NASM)
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete denial of service through application crash when processing malicious assembly files, potentially disrupting build pipelines or automated assembly processes.
Likely Case
Application crash when processing specially crafted assembly files, requiring manual restart of affected processes.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper input validation and sandboxing of assembly file processing.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires feeding specially crafted assembly files to NASM. No authentication required as it's a local tool.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: NASM 2.16 with fix applied (development branch update)
Vendor Advisory: https://bugzilla.nasm.us/show_bug.cgi?id=3392819
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update to latest NASM development version from official repository. 2. Recompile NASM from source. 3. Replace existing NASM binary with patched version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Avoid aout format output
allPrevent use of vulnerable aout output format by using alternative output formats
nasm -f elf64 input.asm -o output.o
nasm -f win64 input.asm -o output.obj
Input validation
allValidate assembly files before processing with NASM
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict NASM usage to trusted assembly files only
- Run NASM in isolated containers or sandboxes with limited privileges
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check NASM version: nasm -v. If output shows '2.16' development version, system may be vulnerable.Check Version:
nasm -vVerify Fix Applied:
Verify NASM version is updated beyond vulnerable development snapshot. Test with known problematic assembly files.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- NASM process crashes with segmentation fault
- Unexpected termination of assembly compilation processes
SIEM Query:
Process:Name='nasm' AND EventID=1000 (Application Crash)