Vulnerabilities > CVE-2011-0012 - Link Following vulnerability in Redhat Spice-Xpi 2.2/2.3/2.4

047910
CVSS 3.3 - LOW
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
MEDIUM
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
NONE
Integrity impact
PARTIAL
Availability impact
PARTIAL

Summary

The SPICE Firefox plug-in (spice-xpi) 2.4, 2.3, 2.2, and possibly other versions allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the usbrdrctl log file, which has a predictable name.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Redhat
3
Application
Mozilla
1

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Symlink Attack
    An attacker positions a symbolic link in such a manner that the targeted user or application accesses the link's endpoint, assuming that it is accessing a file with the link's name. The endpoint file may be either output or input. If the file is output, the result is that the endpoint is modified, instead of a file at the intended location. Modifications to the endpoint file may include appending, overwriting, corrupting, changing permissions, or other modifications. In some variants of this attack the attacker may be able to control the change to a file while in other cases they cannot. The former is especially damaging since the attacker may be able to grant themselves increased privileges or insert false information, but the latter can also be damaging as it can expose sensitive information or corrupt or destroy vital system or application files. Alternatively, the endpoint file may serve as input to the targeted application. This can be used to feed malformed input into the target or to cause the target to process different information, possibly allowing the attacker to control the actions of the target or to cause the target to expose information to the attacker. Moreover, the actions taken on the endpoint file are undertaken with the permissions of the targeted user or application, which may exceed the permissions that the attacker would normally have.
  • Accessing, Modifying or Executing Executable Files
    An attack of this type exploits a system's configuration that allows an attacker to either directly access an executable file, for example through shell access; or in a possible worst case allows an attacker to upload a file and then execute it. Web servers, ftp servers, and message oriented middleware systems which have many integration points are particularly vulnerable, because both the programmers and the administrators must be in synch regarding the interfaces and the correct privileges for each interface.
  • Leverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Files
    An attack of this type exploits a system's trust in configuration and resource files, when the executable loads the resource (such as an image file or configuration file) the attacker has modified the file to either execute malicious code directly or manipulate the target process (e.g. application server) to execute based on the malicious configuration parameters. Since systems are increasingly interrelated mashing up resources from local and remote sources the possibility of this attack occurring is high. The attack can be directed at a client system, such as causing buffer overrun through loading seemingly benign image files, as in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028 where specially crafted JPEG files could cause a buffer overrun once loaded into the browser. Another example targets clients reading pdf files. In this case the attacker simply appends javascript to the end of a legitimate url for a pdf (http://www.gnucitizen.org/blog/danger-danger-danger/) http://path/to/pdf/file.pdf#whatever_name_you_want=javascript:your_code_here The client assumes that they are reading a pdf, but the attacker has modified the resource and loaded executable javascript into the client's browser process. The attack can also target server processes. The attacker edits the resource or configuration file, for example a web.xml file used to configure security permissions for a J2EE app server, adding role name "public" grants all users with the public role the ability to use the administration functionality. The server trusts its configuration file to be correct, but when they are manipulated, the attacker gains full control.
  • Manipulating Input to File System Calls
    An attacker manipulates inputs to the target software which the target software passes to file system calls in the OS. The goal is to gain access to, and perhaps modify, areas of the file system that the target software did not intend to be accessible.

Nessus

  • NASL familyRed Hat Local Security Checks
    NASL idREDHAT-RHSA-2011-0426.NASL
    descriptionAn updated spice-xpi package that fixes two security issues is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section. The Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments (SPICE) is a remote display protocol used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux for viewing virtualized guests running on the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor, or on Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor. The spice-xpi package provides a plug-in that allows the SPICE client to run from within Mozilla Firefox. An uninitialized pointer use flaw was found in the SPICE Firefox plug-in. If a user were tricked into visiting a malicious web page with Firefox while the SPICE plug-in was enabled, it could cause Firefox to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Firefox. (CVE-2011-1179) It was found that the SPICE Firefox plug-in used a predictable name for one of its log files. A local attacker could use this flaw to conduct a symbolic link attack, allowing them to overwrite arbitrary files accessible to the user running Firefox. (CVE-2011-0012) Users of spice-xpi should upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches to correct these issues. After installing the update, Firefox must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id53329
    published2011-04-08
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2011-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/53329
    titleRHEL 6 : spice-xpi (RHSA-2011:0426)
  • NASL familyOracle Linux Local Security Checks
    NASL idORACLELINUX_ELSA-2011-0426.NASL
    descriptionFrom Red Hat Security Advisory 2011:0426 : An updated spice-xpi package that fixes two security issues is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section. The Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments (SPICE) is a remote display protocol used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux for viewing virtualized guests running on the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor, or on Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor. The spice-xpi package provides a plug-in that allows the SPICE client to run from within Mozilla Firefox. An uninitialized pointer use flaw was found in the SPICE Firefox plug-in. If a user were tricked into visiting a malicious web page with Firefox while the SPICE plug-in was enabled, it could cause Firefox to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Firefox. (CVE-2011-1179) It was found that the SPICE Firefox plug-in used a predictable name for one of its log files. A local attacker could use this flaw to conduct a symbolic link attack, allowing them to overwrite arbitrary files accessible to the user running Firefox. (CVE-2011-0012) Users of spice-xpi should upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches to correct these issues. After installing the update, Firefox must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id68250
    published2013-07-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2013-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/68250
    titleOracle Linux 6 : spice-xpi (ELSA-2011-0426)
  • NASL familyScientific Linux Local Security Checks
    NASL idSL_20110407_SPICE_XPI_ON_SL5_X.NASL
    descriptionAn uninitialized pointer use flaw was found in the SPICE Firefox plug-in. If a user were tricked into visiting a malicious web page with Firefox while the SPICE plug-in was enabled, it could cause Firefox to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Firefox. (CVE-2011-1179) It was found that the SPICE Firefox plug-in used a predictable name for one of its log files. A local attacker could use this flaw to conduct a symbolic link attack, allowing them to overwrite arbitrary files accessible to the user running Firefox. (CVE-2011-0012)
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id61013
    published2012-08-01
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2012-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/61013
    titleScientific Linux Security Update : spice-xpi on SL5.x,SL6.x i386/x86_64

Redhat

advisories
rhsa
idRHSA-2011:0426
rpms
  • spice-xpi-0:2.4-1.el6_0.2
  • spice-xpi-debuginfo-0:2.4-1.el6_0.2