SLUBStick: Arbitrary Memory Writes through Practical Software Cross-Cache Attacks within the Linux Kernel

A paper by Lukas Maar, Stefan Gast, et al. about exploiting slab memory corruptions via a cross-allocator slab-to-page attack targeting user page tables.

The paper covers:

— Using a timing side-channel to make sure that all objects in a slab are under the exploit's control to increase the success chance of executing a cross-cache or a cross-allocator attack;

— Converting limited slab memory corruptions to a stronger slab use-after-free write primitive;

— Using a single-shot slab use-after-free write to gain control over user page tables and thus obtain physical memory arbitrary read/write.