CVE-2023-50711: `serde` deserialization for `FamStructWrapper` lacks bound checks that could potentially lead to out-of-bounds memory access

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-01-02 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-787

Description

vmm-sys-util is a collection of modules that provides helpers and utilities used by multiple rust-vmm components. Starting in version 0.5.0 and prior to version 0.12.0, an issue in the `FamStructWrapper::deserialize` implementation provided by the crate for `vmm_sys_util::fam::FamStructWrapper` can lead to out of bounds memory accesses. The deserialization does not check that the length stored in the header matches the flexible array length. Mismatch in the lengths might allow out of bounds memory access through Rust-safe methods. The issue was corrected in version 0.12.0 by inserting a check that verifies the lengths of compared flexible arrays are equal for any deserialized header and aborting deserialization otherwise. Moreover, the API was changed so that header length can only be modified through Rust-unsafe code. This ensures that users cannot trigger out-of-bounds memory access from Rust-safe code.

Affected products

rust-vmm vmm-sys-util: from 0.5.0 before 0.12.0 — fixed in 0.12.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: rust-vmm vmm-sys-util 0.12.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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