Privilege escalation in systemd

1) Improper Privilege Management

EUVDB-ID: #VU74146

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 5.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-26604

CWE-ID: CWE-269 - Improper Privilege Management

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to improper privilege management for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which the "systemctl status" command may be executed. Specifically, systemd does not set LESSSECURE to 1, and thus other programs may be launched from the less program. This presents a substantial security risk when running systemctl from Sudo, because less executes as root when the terminal size is too small to show the complete systemctl output.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

systemd: before 247

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:freedesktop_org:systemd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://medium.com/@zenmoviefornotification/saidov-maxim-cve-2023-26604-c1232a526ba7
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/NEWS#L4335-L4340
https://blog.compass-security.com/2012/10/dangerous-sudoers-entries-part-2-insecure-functionality/

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.