Vulnerabilities > CVE-2017-14177 - Resource Exhaustion vulnerability in multiple products

047910
CVSS 7.8 - HIGH
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
LOW
Confidentiality impact
HIGH
Integrity impact
HIGH
Availability impact
HIGH
local
low complexity
apport-project
canonical
CWE-400
nessus
NVD
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-15

Summary

Apport through 2.20.7 does not properly handle core dumps from setuid binaries allowing local users to create certain files as root which an attacker could leverage to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1324.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Apport_Project
111
OS
Canonical
5

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • XML Ping of the Death
    An attacker initiates a resource depletion attack where a large number of small XML messages are delivered at a sufficiently rapid rate to cause a denial of service or crash of the target. Transactions such as repetitive SOAP transactions can deplete resources faster than a simple flooding attack because of the additional resources used by the SOAP protocol and the resources necessary to process SOAP messages. The transactions used are immaterial as long as they cause resource utilization on the target. In other words, this is a normal flooding attack augmented by using messages that will require extra processing on the target.
  • XML Entity Expansion
    An attacker submits an XML document to a target application where the XML document uses nested entity expansion to produce an excessively large output XML. XML allows the definition of macro-like structures that can be used to simplify the creation of complex structures. However, this capability can be abused to create excessive demands on a processor's CPU and memory. A small number of nested expansions can result in an exponential growth in demands on memory.
  • Inducing Account Lockout
    An attacker leverages the security functionality of the system aimed at thwarting potential attacks to launch a denial of service attack against a legitimate system user. Many systems, for instance, implement a password throttling mechanism that locks an account after a certain number of incorrect log in attempts. An attacker can leverage this throttling mechanism to lock a legitimate user out of their own account. The weakness that is being leveraged by an attacker is the very security feature that has been put in place to counteract attacks.
  • Violating Implicit Assumptions Regarding XML Content (aka XML Denial of Service (XDoS))
    XML Denial of Service (XDoS) can be applied to any technology that utilizes XML data. This is, of course, most distributed systems technology including Java, .Net, databases, and so on. XDoS is most closely associated with web services, SOAP, and Rest, because remote service requesters can post malicious XML payloads to the service provider designed to exhaust the service provider's memory, CPU, and/or disk space. The main weakness in XDoS is that the service provider generally must inspect, parse, and validate the XML messages to determine routing, workflow, security considerations, and so on. It is exactly these inspection, parsing, and validation routines that XDoS targets. There are three primary attack vectors that XDoS can navigate Target CPU through recursion: attacker creates a recursive payload and sends to service provider Target memory through jumbo payloads: service provider uses DOM to parse XML. DOM creates in memory representation of XML document, but when document is very large (for example, north of 1 Gb) service provider host may exhaust memory trying to build memory objects. XML Ping of death: attack service provider with numerous small files that clog the system. All of the above attacks exploit the loosely coupled nature of web services, where the service provider has little to no control over the service requester and any messages the service requester sends.

Nessus

  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-3480-2.NASL
    descriptionUSN-3480-1 fixed vulnerabilities in Apport. The fix for CVE-2017-14177 introduced a regression in the ability to handle crashes for users that configured their systems to use the Upstart init system in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 17.04. The fix for CVE-2017-14180 temporarily disabled crash forwarding to containers. This update addresses the problems. We apologize for the inconvenience. Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for setuid binaries. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. (CVE-2017-14177) Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for processes in a different PID namespace. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. (CVE-2017-14180). Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id104712
    published2017-11-21
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2017-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2017-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/104712
    titleUbuntu 16.04 LTS / 17.04 / 17.10 : apport regressions (USN-3480-2)
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-3480-2. The text 
# itself is copyright (C) Canonical, Inc. See 
# <http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/>. Ubuntu(R) is a registered 
# trademark of Canonical, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(104712);
  script_version("3.6");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/09/18 12:31:47");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2017-14177", "CVE-2017-14180");
  script_xref(name:"USN", value:"3480-2");

  script_name(english:"Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 17.04 / 17.10 : apport regressions (USN-3480-2)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks dpkg output for updated package.");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:"The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security-related patch."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"USN-3480-1 fixed vulnerabilities in Apport. The fix for CVE-2017-14177
introduced a regression in the ability to handle crashes for users
that configured their systems to use the Upstart init system in Ubuntu
16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 17.04. The fix for CVE-2017-14180 temporarily
disabled crash forwarding to containers. This update addresses the
problems.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for
setuid binaries. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a
denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root
privileges. (CVE-2017-14177)

Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core
dumps for processes in a different PID namespace. A local
attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service
via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges.
(CVE-2017-14180).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable
has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible
without introducing additional issues."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3480-2/"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected apport package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:apport");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.04");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/02/02");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2017/11/20");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2017/11/21");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2017-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2017-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  script_family(english:"Ubuntu Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/Ubuntu", "Host/Ubuntu/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("ubuntu.inc");
include("misc_func.inc");

if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled") ) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
release = get_kb_item("Host/Ubuntu/release");
if ( isnull(release) ) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu");
release = chomp(release);
if (! preg(pattern:"^(16\.04|17\.04|17\.10)$", string:release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.04 / 17.10", "Ubuntu " + release);
if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l") ) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Ubuntu", cpu);

flag = 0;

if (ubuntu_check(osver:"16.04", pkgname:"apport", pkgver:"2.20.1-0ubuntu2.13")) flag++;
if (ubuntu_check(osver:"17.04", pkgname:"apport", pkgver:"2.20.4-0ubuntu4.8")) flag++;
if (ubuntu_check(osver:"17.10", pkgname:"apport", pkgver:"2.20.7-0ubuntu3.5")) flag++;

if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_HOLE,
    extra      : ubuntu_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = ubuntu_pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "apport");
}
  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-3480-3.NASL
    descriptionUSN-3480-2 fixed regressions in Apport. The update introduced a new regression in the container support. This update addresses the problem. We apologize for the inconvenience. Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for setuid binaries. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. (CVE-2017-14177) Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for processes in a different PID namespace. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. (CVE-2017-14180). Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id105543
    published2018-01-04
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2018-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/105543
    titleUbuntu 16.04 LTS / 17.04 / 17.10 : apport regression (USN-3480-3)
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-3480-3. The text 
# itself is copyright (C) Canonical, Inc. See 
# <http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/>. Ubuntu(R) is a registered 
# trademark of Canonical, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(105543);
  script_version("3.6");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/09/18 12:31:47");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2017-14177", "CVE-2017-14180");
  script_xref(name:"USN", value:"3480-3");

  script_name(english:"Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 17.04 / 17.10 : apport regression (USN-3480-3)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks dpkg output for updated package.");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:"The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security-related patch."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"USN-3480-2 fixed regressions in Apport. The update introduced a new
regression in the container support. This update addresses the
problem.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for
setuid binaries. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a
denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root
privileges. (CVE-2017-14177)

Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core
dumps for processes in a different PID namespace. A local
attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service
via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges.
(CVE-2017-14180).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable
has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible
without introducing additional issues."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3480-3/"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected apport package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:apport");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.04");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/02/02");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/01/03");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2018/01/04");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2018-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  script_family(english:"Ubuntu Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/Ubuntu", "Host/Ubuntu/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("ubuntu.inc");
include("misc_func.inc");

if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled") ) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
release = get_kb_item("Host/Ubuntu/release");
if ( isnull(release) ) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu");
release = chomp(release);
if (! preg(pattern:"^(16\.04|17\.04|17\.10)$", string:release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.04 / 17.10", "Ubuntu " + release);
if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l") ) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Ubuntu", cpu);

flag = 0;

if (ubuntu_check(osver:"16.04", pkgname:"apport", pkgver:"2.20.1-0ubuntu2.15")) flag++;
if (ubuntu_check(osver:"17.04", pkgname:"apport", pkgver:"2.20.4-0ubuntu4.10")) flag++;
if (ubuntu_check(osver:"17.10", pkgname:"apport", pkgver:"2.20.7-0ubuntu3.7")) flag++;

if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_HOLE,
    extra      : ubuntu_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = ubuntu_pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "apport");
}
  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-3480-1.NASL
    descriptionSander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for setuid binaries. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. (CVE-2017-14177) Sander Bos discovered that Apport incorrectly handled core dumps for processes in a different PID namespace. A local attacker could use this issue to perform a denial of service via resource exhaustion or possibly gain root privileges. (CVE-2017-14180). Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id104625
    published2017-11-16
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2017-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2017-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/104625
    titleUbuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 17.04 / 17.10 : apport vulnerabilities (USN-3480-1)

References