Privilege escalation in Linux Kernel

1) Memory corruption

EUVDB-ID: #VU13338

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 8.3 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:U/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-12233

CWE-ID: CWE-119 - Memory corruption

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the target system.

The vulnerability exists in the ea_get function due to boundary error when calling setxattr twice with two different extended attribute names on the same file, as defined in the fs/jfs/xattr.c source code file. A local attacker can create a file or execute a program that submits malicious input, trigger a slab-out-of-bounds condition and cause the system crash or execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.

Mitigation

Cybersecurity Help is currently unaware of any solutions addressing the vulnerability.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.15 - 4.17.1

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:linux_foundation:linux_kernel:4.17.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:linux_foundation:linux_kernel:4.16.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:linux_foundation:linux_kernel:4.15.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

http://lkml.org/lkml/2018/6/2/2

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.