Unsoundness in `Iterator` and `DoubleEndedIterator` impls for `glib::VariantStrIter`
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub.
Summary
The `VariantStrIter::impl_get` function (called internally by implementations of the `Iterator` and `DoubleEndedIterator` traits for this type) was unsound, resulting in undefined behaviour. An immutable reference `&p` to a `*mut libc::c_char` pointer initialized to `NULL` was passed as an argument to a C function that that mutates the pointer behind `&p` in-place (i.e. as an out-argument), which was unsound. After changes in recent versions of the Rust compiler, these unsound writes through `&p` now seem to be completely disregarded when building the `glib` crate with optimizations. This subsequently caused all calls of `VariantStrIter::impl_get` to violate the safety requirements of the `std::ffi::CStr::from_ptr` function - which requires its argument to be a valid pointer to a C-style string - resulting in crashes due to `NULL` pointer dereferences. This was fixed by passing the out-argument pointer explitly as `&mut p` instead of `&p`. This issue has been present since this code was initially added in `glib` v0.15.0. The mismatch in mutability was likely missed (and not raised as an error by the compiler) because the C function wrapped by `VariantStrIter::impl_get` is variadic (`glib_sys::g_variant_get_child`), and the pointer in question is one of the variadic arguments.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | glib (crates.io) | 0.15.0 to before 0.20.0 | 0.20.0 | Patch available | GHSA-wrw7-89jp-8q8g |
- glib (crates.io) Vendor— Affected 0.15.0 to before 0.20.0 Fixed in 0.20.0 Patch available GHSA-wrw7-89jp-8q8g
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-wrw7-89jp-8q8g glib (crates.io) Fixed in 0.20.0 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-wrw7-89jp-8q8g
References
Sources
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