#VU61268 Resource exhaustion in polkit - CVE-2021-4115

Vulnerability identifier: #VU61268

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 5.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-4115

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
polkit
Other software / Other software solutions

Vendor: Freedesktop.org

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to process file descriptor exhaustion in polkit. A local user can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

polkit: 0.105 - 0.120

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External links
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2021-4115
https://gitlab.com/redhat/centos-stream/rpms/polkit/-/merge_requests/6/diffs?commit_id=bf900df04dc390d389e59aa10942b0f2b15c531e
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/polkit/polkit/-/issues/141
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VGKWCBS6IDZYYDYM2WIWJM5BL7QQTWPF/

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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.