CVE-2021-39219 (published 2021-09-17T20:15Z)

Wasmtime is an open source runtime for WebAssembly & WASI. Wasmtime before version 0.30.0 is affected by a type confusion vulnerability. As a Rust library the `wasmtime` crate clearly marks which functions are safe and which are `unsafe`, guaranteeing that if consumers never use `unsafe` then it should not be possible to have memory unsafety issues in their embeddings of Wasmtime. An issue was discovered in the safe API of `Linker::func_*` APIs. These APIs were previously not sound when one `Engine` was used to create the `Linker` and then a different `Engine` was used to create a `Store` and then the `Linker` was used to instantiate a module into that `Store`. Cross-`Engine` usage of functions is not supported in Wasmtime and this can result in type confusion of function pointers, resulting in being able to safely call a function with the wrong type. Triggering this bug requires using at least two `Engine` values in an embedding and then additionally using two different values with a `Linker` (one at the creation time of the `Linker` and another when instantiating a module with the `Linker`). It's expected that usage of more-than-one `Engine` in an embedding is relatively rare since an `Engine` is intended to be a globally shared resource, so the expectation is that the impact of this issue is relatively small. The fix implemented is to change this behavior to `panic!()` in Rust instead of silently allowing it. Using different `Engine` instances with a `Linker` is a programmer bug that `wasmtime` catches at runtime. This bug has been patched and users should upgrade to Wasmtime version 0.30.0. If you cannot upgrade Wasmtime and are using more than one `Engine` in your embedding it's recommended to instead use only one `Engine` for the entire program if possible. An `Engine` is designed to be a globally shared resource that is suitable to have only one for the lifetime of an entire process. If using multiple `Engine`s is required then code should be audited to ensure that `Linker` is only used with one `Engine`.

Severity: LOW
CVSS v2 base score: 3.3 (AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P)
CVSS v3 base score: 6.3, MEDIUM (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H)

Weakness information:
cwe_id: CWE-843
cwe_name: Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion')
description: The product allocates or initializes a resource such as a pointer, object, or variable using one type, but it later accesses that resource using a type that is incompatible with the original type.
extended_description: 
            When the product accesses the resource using an incompatible type, this could trigger logical errors because the resource does not have expected properties. In languages without memory safety, such as C and C++, type confusion can lead to out-of-bounds memory access.
            While this weakness is frequently associated with unions when parsing data with many different embedded object types in C, it can be present in any application that can interpret the same variable or memory location in multiple ways.
            This weakness is not unique to C and C++. For example, errors in PHP applications can be triggered by providing array parameters when scalars are expected, or vice versa. Languages such as Perl, which perform automatic conversion of a variable of one type when it is accessed as if it were another type, can also contain these issues.
         
         

Fix information:
repo_url: https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime
commit_details: repo_url: https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime
author: Nick Fitzgerald
author_date: 2021-09-17 10:29:35-07:00
msg: Merge pull request from GHSA-q879-9g95-56mx

Add an assertion that a `HostFunc`'s `store` agrees on engines
repository: repo_url: https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime
repo_name: bytecodealliance/wasmtime
description: A fast and secure runtime for WebAssembly
repo_language: Rust
owner: bytecodealliance