New Systemd Privilege Escalation Flaws Affect Most Linux Distributions

linux systemd privilege escalation exploit

Security researchers have discovered three vulnerabilities in Systemd, a popular init system and service manager for most Linux operating systems, that could allow unprivileged local attackers or malicious programs to gain root access on the targeted systems.

The vulnerabilities, assigned as CVE-2018-16864, CVE-2018-16865, and CVE-2018-16866, actually resides in the "systemd-journald" service that collects information from different sources and creates event logs by logging information in the journal.

The vulnerabilities, which were discovered and reported by security researchers at Qualys, affect all systemd-based Linux distributions, including Redhat and Debian, according to the researchers.

However, some Linux distros such as SUSE Linux Enterprise 15, openSUSE Leap 15.0, and Fedora 28 and 29 are not affected, as "their userspace [code] is compiled with GCC's -fstack-clash-protection."

The first two flaws are memory corruptions issues, while the third one is an out-of-bounds read issue in systemd-journald that can leak sensitive process memory data.

Researchers have successfully created proof-of-concept exploits, which they are planning to release in the near future.

"We developed an exploit for CVE-2018-16865 and CVE-2018-16866 that obtains a local root shell in 10 minutes on i386 and 70 minutes on amd64, on average," the researchers write in an advisory published Wednesday.

CVE-2018-16864 is similar to a Stack Clash vulnerability Qualys researchers discovered in 2017 that can be exploited by malware or low privileged users to escalate their permission to root.

According to the researchers, CVE-2018-16864 existed in systemd's codebase since April 2013 (systemd v203) and became exploitable in February 2016 (systemd v230), while CVE-2018-16865 was introduced in December 2011 (systemd v38) and became exploitable in April 2013 (systemd v201), Qualys says.

However, the third vulnerability (CVE-2018-16866) was introduced in systemd's codebase in June 2015 (systemd v221), but according to the researchers, it was "inadvertently fixed in August 2018."

If you are using a vulnerable Linux system, keep tabs on the latest updates by your respective Linux distribution and install the patches as soon as they are released.

Comments

Information Security Analyst Interview Questions

Top 12 Information Security Analyst Interview Questions & Answers 1) Explain what is the role of information security analyst? From small to large companies role of information security analyst includes Implementing security measures to protect computer systems, data and networks Keep himself up-to-date with on the latest intelligence which includes hackers techniques as well Preventing data loss and service interruptions Testing of data processing system and performing risk assessments Installing various security software like firewalls, data encryption and other security measures Recommending security enhancements and purchases Planning, testing and implementing network disaster plans Staff training on information and network security procedures 2) Mention what is data leakage? What are the factors that can cause data leakage? The separation or departing of IP from its intended place of storage is known as data leakage. The factors that are respons...

Phishing Campaigns Targeting Google and Yahoo Accounts To Bypassing Two-Factor Authentication Several phishing campaigns targeting hundreds of individuals across the Middle East and North Africa. The attacker targers HRDs, journalists, political actors. Amnesty International published a report on multiple campaigns that traget self-described “secure email” services, such as Tutanota and ProtonMail and another campaign that aimed in bypassing two-factor authentication. Crafted Phishing Sites – Secure Email Providers The phishing campaign primarily targeted popular secure email service providers such as Tutanota and ProtonMail. Threat actors used a well-crafted phishing page – by obtaining the domain tutanota[.]org, whereas the original domain of the service provider is tutanota[.]com. A phishing attack is one of the dangerous social engineering attacks that leads to capture a victim’s username and password that will get store it to an attacker machine and reuse it l...

Community Health Systems agrees to pay nearly $3.1 million as a part of settlement for 2014 data breach

The settlement covers a total of 4.5 million patients impacted in the breach. The cyber attack took place in April and June of 2014 and was orchestrated by a Chinese criminal group. Tennessee-based Community Health Systems has reached a settlement over a 2014 data breach that 4.5 million patients. A proposed amount of $3.1 million has been reached as a part of the settlement in a class action lawsuit filed against the healthcare. What happened? According to court records, the cyber attack took place in April and June of 2014 and was orchestrated by a Chinese criminal group, that solely focused on obtaining intellectual data. The hackers used an advanced malware and exfiltrated a variety of information such as patient names, Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, and phone numbers. However, no credit card details and medical details were affected in the breach. Following the breach, the healthcare firm had notified the patients about the breach. However, the...

Red Securium

Search This Blog