Security News > 2023 > July > GameOver(lay): Two Severe Linux Vulnerabilities Impact 40% of Ubuntu Users
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed two high-severity security flaws in the Ubuntu kernel that could pave the way for local privilege escalation attacks.
Cloud security firm Wiz, in a report shared with The Hacker News, said the easy-to-exploit shortcomings have the potential to impact 40% of Ubuntu users.
"The impacted Ubuntu versions are prevalent in the cloud as they serve as the default operating systems for multiple ," security researchers Sagi Tzadik and Shir Tamari said.
Following responsible disclosure, the vulnerabilities have been fixed by Ubuntu as of July 24, 2023.
The findings underscore the fact that subtle changes in the Linux kernel introduced by Ubuntu could have unforeseen implications, Wiz CTO and co-founder Ami Luttwak said in a statement shared with the publication.
"Both vulnerabilities are unique to Ubuntu kernels since they stemmed from Ubuntu's individual changes to the OverlayFS module," the researchers said, adding the issues are comparable to other vulnerabilities such as CVE-2016-1576, CVE-2021-3493, CVE-2021-3847, and CVE-2023-0386.
News URL
https://thehackernews.com/2023/07/gameoverlay-two-severe-linux.html
Related Vulnerability
| DATE | CVE | VULNERABILITY TITLE | RISK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-03-22 | CVE-2023-0386 | Unspecified vulnerability in Linux Kernel A flaw was found in the Linux kernel, where unauthorized access to the execution of the setuid file with capabilities was found in the Linux kernel’s OverlayFS subsystem in how a user copies a capable file from a nosuid mount into another mount. | 7.8 |
| 2022-04-01 | CVE-2021-3847 | Improper Preservation of Permissions vulnerability in multiple products An unauthorized access to the execution of the setuid file with capabilities flaw in the Linux kernel OverlayFS subsystem was found in the way user copying a capable file from a nosuid mount into another mount. | 7.8 |
| 2021-04-17 | CVE-2021-3493 | Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux The overlayfs implementation in the linux kernel did not properly validate with respect to user namespaces the setting of file capabilities on files in an underlying file system. | 7.8 |
| 2016-05-02 | CVE-2016-1576 | The overlayfs implementation in the Linux kernel through 4.5.2 does not properly restrict the mount namespace, which allows local users to gain privileges by mounting an overlayfs filesystem on top of a FUSE filesystem, and then executing a crafted setuid program. | 7.8 |