rkyv/rkyv · Security

rkyv: Panic safety bugs in `InlineVec::clear` and `SerVec::clear` enable arbitrary code execution

GHSA ID
GHSA-vfvv-c25p-m7mm
Severity
medium
Published
Updated
CVSS v4
6.9 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Description

InlineVec::clear() and SerVec::clear() in rkyv were not panic-safe. Both functions iterate over their elements and call drop_in_place on each, updating self.len only after the loop. If an element's Drop implementation panics during the loop, self.len is left at its original value.

A subsequent invocation of clear() on the same container then re-visits the already-freed elements:

  • InlineVec::clear() is called again from InlineVec's own Drop implementation when the value is later dropped.
  • SerVec::clear() is called again by SerVec::with_capacity() after the user closure returns.

Technical Impact

  • CWE-415 (Double Free): Heap corruption when element type holds Box<T>
  • CWE-416 (Use-After-Free): Memory corruption when element reads from heap during Drop

Both vulnerabilities are triggerable entirely from safe Rust via std::panic::catch_unwind and require no special privileges.

CWEs

References