#VU32020 Improper access control in libvirt - CVE-2019-10168

Vulnerability identifier: #VU32020

Vulnerability 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-2019-10168

CWE-ID: CWE-284

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
libvirt
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: libvirt.org

Description

The vulnerability allows a local authenticated user to execute arbitrary code.

The virConnectBaselineHypervisorCPU() and virConnectCompareHypervisorCPU() libvirt APIs, 4.x.x before 4.10.1 and 5.x.x before 5.4.1, accept an "emulator" argument to specify the program providing emulation for a domain. Since v1.2.19, libvirt will execute that program to probe the domain's capabilities. Read-only clients could specify an arbitrary path for this argument, causing libvirtd to execute a crafted executable with its own privileges.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

libvirt: 4.10.0 - 5.4.0

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External links
https://access.redhat.com/libvirt-privesc-vulnerabilities
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-10168
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-18

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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.