{"id":34034,"date":"2025-05-01T07:16:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T07:16:59","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-20T23:38:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T05:38:59","slug":"cve-2025-1290-high-severity-race-condition-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-kernel-5-4-on-chromeos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-1290-high-severity-race-condition-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-kernel-5-4-on-chromeos\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-1290: High Severity Race Condition Use-After-Free Vulnerability in Kernel 5.4 on ChromeOS<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cybersecurity landscape is fraught with a multitude of vulnerabilities, and one that is causing significant concern is CVE-2025-1290. This high severity vulnerability exists within ChromeOS’s Kernel 5.4, specifically in the virtio_transport_space_update function. As it’s a race condition Use-After-Free vulnerability, it has far-reaching implications, potentially affecting a broad range of systems<\/a> and devices running on the ChromeOS platform. This vulnerability matters because it can lead to system<\/a> compromise or data leakage, creating a potential goldmine for malicious actors seeking to exploit such weaknesses.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-1290
\nSeverity: High (CVSS Score: 8.1)
\nAttack Vector: Local Network
\nPrivileges Required: Low
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: Potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

ChromeOS | Kernel 5.4<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability stems from a race condition in the virtio_transport_space_update function within the Kernel<\/a> 5.4 on ChromeOS. A race condition<\/a> is a situation where the behavior of a system depends on the relative timing of events, such as the ordering of read\/write operations. The issue arises when concurrent allocation and freeing of the virtio_vsock_sock structure during an AF_VSOCK connect syscall occur before a worker thread accesses<\/a> it. This leads to a dangling pointer, which can potentially lead to kernel code execution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited<\/a>. It is important to note that this is a high-level representation and may not reflect the actual code<\/a> used in a real-world exploit.<\/p>\n

#include \n#include \ntypedef struct {\nchar *pointer;\n} virtio_vsock_sock;\nvoid *thread1(void *vsock) {\n\/\/ Simulate allocation and freeing of vsock structure\n((virtio_vsock_sock*)vsock)->pointer = malloc(128);\nfree(((virtio_vsock_sock*)vsock)->pointer);\nreturn NULL;\n}\nvoid *thread2(void *vsock) {\n\/\/ Simulate worker thread accessing vsock structure\n\/\/ after it has been freed\nif (((virtio_vsock_sock*)vsock)->pointer != NULL) {\n\/\/ Insert malicious code here\n}\nreturn NULL;\n}\nint main() {\npthread_t t1, t2;\nvirtio_vsock_sock vsock;\npthread_create(&t1, NULL, thread1, &vsock);\npthread_create(&t2, NULL, thread2, &vsock);\npthread_join(t1, NULL);\npthread_join(t2, NULL);\nreturn 0;\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n
This code simulates<\/a> the scenario where a worker thread tries to access the virtio_vsock_sock structure after it has already been freed. If the timing of these operations is manipulated in just the right way, the `thread2` function can potentially execute arbitrary code<\/a> in the kernel space.<\/p>\n
Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n
To mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability<\/a>, users are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide a temporary mitigation. These systems can help identify and block attempts to exploit the vulnerability<\/a>, providing an additional layer of security while the patch is being deployed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The cybersecurity landscape is fraught with a multitude of vulnerabilities, and one that is causing significant concern is CVE-2025-1290. This high severity vulnerability exists within ChromeOS’s Kernel 5.4, specifically in the virtio_transport_space_update function. As it’s a race condition Use-After-Free vulnerability, it has far-reaching implications, potentially affecting a broad range of systems and devices running […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[88],"product":[95],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-34034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-linux","product-linux-kernel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t