#VU9769 Information disclosure in Linux kernel - CVE-2017-17449

Vulnerability identifier: #VU9769

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 1.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2017-17449

CWE-ID: CWE-200

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 obtain potentially sensitive information on the target system.

The weakness exists due to the __netlink_deliver_tap_skb function in net/netlink/af_netlink.c in the Linux kernel, when CONFIG_NLMON is enabled, does not restrict observations of Netlink messages to a single net namespace. A local attacker can leverage the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability to sniff an nlmon interface for all Netlink activity on the system and read arbitrary files.

Mitigation
Update to version 4.14.4.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.10.0 - 4.14.3

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External links
https://lkml.org/lkml/2017/12/5/950

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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.