#VU14178 Privilege escalation in Linux kernel - CVE-2018-10901

Vulnerability identifier: #VU14178

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 7.1 [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:P/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-10901

CWE-ID: CWE-264

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

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

The vulnerability existsin the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization subsystem  due to the vmx.c source code file of the affected software fails to set the GDT.LIMIT value to the previous host value and instead sets it to 64 KB. A local attacker can place malicious entries in the Global Descriptor Table (GDT), submit a specially crafted request that submits malicious input and gain elevated privileges on the system.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.15 - 4.17.10

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External links
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=3444d7da1839b851eefedd372978d8a982316c36

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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.