// For flags

CVE-2021-42114

Scalable Rowhammering In the Frequency Domain to Bypass TRR Mitigations On Modern DDR4/LPDDR4X Devices

Severity Score

8.3
*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

3
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

Modern DRAM devices (PC-DDR4, LPDDR4X) are affected by a vulnerability in their internal Target Row Refresh (TRR) mitigation against Rowhammer attacks. Novel non-uniform Rowhammer access patterns, consisting of aggressors with different frequencies, phases, and amplitudes allow triggering bit flips on affected memory modules using our Blacksmith fuzzer. The patterns generated by Blacksmith were able to trigger bitflips on all 40 PC-DDR4 DRAM devices in our test pool, which cover the three major DRAM manufacturers: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. This means that, even when chips advertised as Rowhammer-free are used, attackers may still be able to exploit Rowhammer. For example, this enables privilege-escalation attacks against the kernel or binaries such as the sudo binary, and also triggering bit flips in RSA-2048 keys (e.g., SSH keys) to gain cross-tenant virtual-machine access. We can confirm that DRAM devices acquired in July 2020 with DRAM chips from all three major DRAM vendors (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron) are affected by this vulnerability. For more details, please refer to our publication.

Los dispositivos DRAM modernos (PC-DDR4, LPDDR4X) están afectados por una vulnerabilidad en su mitigación interna Target Row Refresh (TRR) contra los ataques Rowhammer. Los nuevos patrones de acceso Rowhammer no uniformes, que consisten en agresores con diferentes frecuencias, fases y amplitudes, permiten desencadenar cambios de bits en los módulos de memoria afectados usando nuestro fuzzer Blacksmith. Los patrones generados por Blacksmith fueron capaces de desencadenar cambios de bits en los 40 dispositivos DRAM PC-DDR4 de nuestro grupo de pruebas, que cubren los tres principales fabricantes de DRAM: Samsung, SK Hynix y Micron. Esto significa que, incluso cuando son usados chips anunciados como libres de Rowhammer, los atacantes pueden seguir siendo capaces de explotar Rowhammer. Por ejemplo, esto permite realizar ataques de escalada de privilegios contra el kernel o los binarios como el binario sudo, y también desencadenar cambio de bits en las claves RSA-2048 (por ejemplo, las claves SSH) para conseguir acceso a máquinas virtuales de otros usuarios. Podemos confirmar que los dispositivos DRAM adquiridos en julio de 2020 con chips DRAM de los tres principales proveedores de DRAM (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron) están afectados por esta vulnerabilidad. Para más detalles, consulte nuestra publicación

*Credits: Kaveh Razavi, Patrick Jattke, Stijn Gunter; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Victor van der Veen; Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Pietro Frigo; VU Amsterdam
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Adjacent
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Adjacent
Attack Complexity
Medium
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2021-10-08 CVE Reserved
  • 2021-11-16 CVE Published
  • 2024-07-31 EPSS Updated
  • 2024-09-17 CVE Updated
  • 2024-09-17 First Exploit
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
CWE
  • CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Samsung
Search vendor "Samsung"
Ddr4 Sdram Firmware
Search vendor "Samsung" for product "Ddr4 Sdram Firmware"
--
Affected
in Samsung
Search vendor "Samsung"
Ddr4 Sdram
Search vendor "Samsung" for product "Ddr4 Sdram"
--
Safe
Samsung
Search vendor "Samsung"
Lddr4 Firmware
Search vendor "Samsung" for product "Lddr4 Firmware"
--
Affected
in Samsung
Search vendor "Samsung"
Lddr4
Search vendor "Samsung" for product "Lddr4"
--
Safe
Micron
Search vendor "Micron"
Lddr4 Firmware
Search vendor "Micron" for product "Lddr4 Firmware"
--
Affected
in Micron
Search vendor "Micron"
Lddr4
Search vendor "Micron" for product "Lddr4"
--
Safe
Micron
Search vendor "Micron"
Ddr4 Sdram Firmware
Search vendor "Micron" for product "Ddr4 Sdram Firmware"
--
Affected
in Micron
Search vendor "Micron"
Ddr4 Sdram
Search vendor "Micron" for product "Ddr4 Sdram"
--
Safe
Skhynix
Search vendor "Skhynix"
Ddr4 Sdram Firmware
Search vendor "Skhynix" for product "Ddr4 Sdram Firmware"
--
Affected
in Skhynix
Search vendor "Skhynix"
Ddr4 Sdram
Search vendor "Skhynix" for product "Ddr4 Sdram"
--
Safe
Skhynix
Search vendor "Skhynix"
Lddr4 Firmware
Search vendor "Skhynix" for product "Lddr4 Firmware"
--
Affected
in Skhynix
Search vendor "Skhynix"
Lddr4
Search vendor "Skhynix" for product "Lddr4"
--
Safe