What happened
When semop(2) blocks waiting for a semaphore condition, it releases the per-set lock and sleeps. Upon waking, it checks the sequence number embedded in the semaphore set's IPC identifier to detect whether the set was removed while the caller was asleep. This sequence number is only 15 bits wide. If enough semaphore sets are created and destroyed in the same table slot while a caller is blocked, the counter wraps around, and semop(2) may falsely conclude that the original set still exists. The subsequent access to a semaphore within the set may then be out of bounds. An unprivileged local user can trigger an out-of-bounds access on kernel heap memory, potentially leading to privilege escalation.
Affected versions
FreeBSD: 15.1-RELEASE through before p4 (release); 15.0-RELEASE through before p14 (release); 14.5-RELEASE through before p1 (release); 14.4-RELEASE through before p10 (release) Fixed: See vendor advisory.
Why it matters
Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.
Detection & mitigation
- Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
- Review affected product exposure and access logs.
Public PoC references
No public PoC reference has passed the current publication threshold.