CVE-2021-40506

An issue was discovered in the ALU unit of the OR1200 (aka OpenRISC 1200) processor 2011-09-10 through 2015-11-11

Critical · published April 18, 2023

CVSS v3.1
9.8
EPSS
1%
Percentile
53.6
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

🔥 A critical bug in the ALU unit of the OR1200 processor could cause software to misbehave wildly! Think of the overflow flag as a warning light on your car's dashboard. If that light fails to illuminate, you might drive right into a disaster, mistaking good conditions for a malfunctioning engine — a real recipe for chaos! If software relies on the overflow flag, you could face absolutely devastating execution errors: data corruption, crashes, or unpredictable behavior. This vulnerability might not be actively exploited yet, but it's a ticking time bomb ready to disrupt processes reliant on accurate calculations!

Put simply

Think of the overflow flag as a warning light on your car's dashboard. If that light fails to illuminate, you might drive right into a disaster, mistaking good conditions for a malfunctioning engine — a real recipe for chaos! The flaw lies in how the OR1200 processor’s ALU unit fails to update the overflow flag for specific msb and mac instructions. This oversight can lead to erroneous values being processed in any software that depends on this critical flag for execution.

What to do

If software relies on the overflow flag, you could face absolutely devastating execution errors: data corruption, crashes, or unpredictable behavior. This vulnerability might not be actively exploited yet, but it's a ticking time bomb ready to disrupt processes reliant on accurate calculations! To mitigate this risk, you should update to the patched version of the OR1200 processor as soon as possible. Additionally, conduct a thorough audit of any software that interacts with this processor to ensure that it handles edge cases correctly. Don't let this sneak by! You've got this! With these steps, you can ensure your systems remain robust and resilient against this critical flaw! 🛡️

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
9.8 · CRITICAL
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00728 · 53.6th percentile
Published
2023-04-18T00:00Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 18 APR 00:00Z
    An issue was discovered in the ALU unit of the OR1200 (aka OpenRISC 1200) processor 2011-09-10 through 2015-11-11
    cvelistv5