Vulnerabilities > CVE-2018-4112 - Link Following vulnerability in Apple mac OS X
Attack vector
NETWORK Attack complexity
MEDIUM Privileges required
NONE Confidentiality impact
PARTIAL Integrity impact
NONE Availability impact
NONE Summary
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS before 10.13.4 is affected. The issue involves the "ATS" component. It allows attackers to obtain sensitive information by leveraging symlink mishandling.
Vulnerable Configurations
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)
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 family MacOS X Local Security Checks NASL id MACOS_10_13_4.NASL description The remote host is running a version of macOS / Mac OS X that is 10.13.x prior to 10.13.4. It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities in the following components : - Admin Framework - APFS - ATS - CoreFoundation - CoreText - Disk Images - Disk Management - File System Events - iCloud Drive - Intel Graphics Driver - IOFireWireFamily - Kernel - kext tools - LaunchServices - Mail - Notes - NSURLSession - NVIDIA Graphics Drivers - PDFKit - PluginKit - Quick Look - Security - Storage - System Preferences - Terminal - WindowServer Note that successful exploitation of the most serious issues can result in arbitrary code execution. last seen 2020-06-01 modified 2020-06-02 plugin id 108786 published 2018-04-02 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/108786 title macOS 10.13.x < 10.13.4 Multiple Vulnerabilities code # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(108786); script_version("1.6"); script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/06/19 15:17:43"); script_cve_id( "CVE-2017-13080", "CVE-2017-13890", "CVE-2017-13911", "CVE-2017-15412", "CVE-2017-7151", "CVE-2018-4104", "CVE-2018-4105", "CVE-2018-4106", "CVE-2018-4107", "CVE-2018-4108", "CVE-2018-4111", "CVE-2018-4112", "CVE-2018-4115", "CVE-2018-4131", "CVE-2018-4132", "CVE-2018-4135", "CVE-2018-4136", "CVE-2018-4138", "CVE-2018-4139", "CVE-2018-4142", "CVE-2018-4143", "CVE-2018-4144", "CVE-2018-4150", "CVE-2018-4151", "CVE-2018-4152", "CVE-2018-4154", "CVE-2018-4155", "CVE-2018-4156", "CVE-2018-4157", "CVE-2018-4158", "CVE-2018-4160", "CVE-2018-4167", "CVE-2018-4170", "CVE-2018-4173", "CVE-2018-4174", "CVE-2018-4175", "CVE-2018-4176", "CVE-2018-4179", "CVE-2018-4185", "CVE-2018-4187", "CVE-2018-4298" ); script_bugtraq_id( 101274, 102098, 103579, 103581, 103582, 103958, 104223 ); script_name(english:"macOS 10.13.x < 10.13.4 Multiple Vulnerabilities"); script_summary(english:"Checks the version of Mac OS X / macOS."); script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value: "The remote host is missing a macOS update that fixes multiple security vulnerabilities."); script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value: "The remote host is running a version of macOS / Mac OS X that is 10.13.x prior to 10.13.4. It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities in the following components : - Admin Framework - APFS - ATS - CoreFoundation - CoreText - Disk Images - Disk Management - File System Events - iCloud Drive - Intel Graphics Driver - IOFireWireFamily - Kernel - kext tools - LaunchServices - Mail - Notes - NSURLSession - NVIDIA Graphics Drivers - PDFKit - PluginKit - Quick Look - Security - Storage - System Preferences - Terminal - WindowServer Note that successful exploitation of the most serious issues can result in arbitrary code execution."); script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208692"); # https://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2018/Mar/msg00004.html script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"http://www.nessus.org/u?e0e00f71"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value: "Upgrade to macOS version 10.13.4 or later."); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C"); script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:POC/RL:OF/RC:C"); script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"); script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2018-4298"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/03/29"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/03/29"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2018/04/02"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"combined"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:mac_os_x"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:macos"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_family(english:"MacOS X Local Security Checks"); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof."); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl", "os_fingerprint.nasl"); script_require_ports("Host/MacOSX/Version", "Host/OS"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("misc_func.inc"); os = get_kb_item("Host/MacOSX/Version"); if (!os) { os = get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/OS"); if ("Mac OS X" >!< os) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "macOS / Mac OS X"); c = get_kb_item("Host/OS/Confidence"); if (c <= 70) exit(1, "Can't determine the host's OS with sufficient confidence."); } if (!os) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "macOS / Mac OS X"); matches = pregmatch(pattern:"Mac OS X ([0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)", string:os); if (empty_or_null(matches)) exit(1, "Failed to parse the macOS / Mac OS X version ('" + os + "')."); version = matches[1]; fixed_version = "10.13.4"; if (version !~"^10\.13($|[^0-9])") audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "macOS 10.13.x"); if (ver_compare(ver:version, fix:'10.13.4', strict:FALSE) == -1) { security_report_v4( port:0, severity:SECURITY_HOLE, extra: '\n Installed version : ' + version + '\n Fixed version : ' + fixed_version + '\n' ); } else audit(AUDIT_INST_VER_NOT_VULN, "macOS / Mac OS X", version);NASL family MacOS X Local Security Checks NASL id MACOSX_SECUPD2018-002.NASL description The remote host is running Mac OS X 10.11.6 or Mac OS X 10.12.6 and is missing a security update. It is therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities affecting the following components : - ATS - CFNetwork Session - CoreFoundation - CoreTypes - curl - Disk Images - iCloud Drive - Kernel - kext tools - LaunchServices - PluginKit - Security - Storage - Terminal last seen 2020-06-01 modified 2020-06-02 plugin id 108787 published 2018-04-02 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/108787 title macOS and Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities (Security Update 2018-002) code # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(108787); script_version("1.6"); script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/06/19 15:17:43"); script_cve_id( "CVE-2017-13890", "CVE-2017-13911", "CVE-2017-15412", "CVE-2017-7151", "CVE-2017-8816", "CVE-2018-4104", "CVE-2018-4106", "CVE-2018-4108", "CVE-2018-4112", "CVE-2018-4131", "CVE-2018-4136", "CVE-2018-4139", "CVE-2018-4144", "CVE-2018-4150", "CVE-2018-4151", "CVE-2018-4154", "CVE-2018-4155", "CVE-2018-4156", "CVE-2018-4158", "CVE-2018-4175", "CVE-2018-4176" ); script_bugtraq_id( 101998, 102098, 103579, 103581, 103582 ); script_name(english:"macOS and Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities (Security Update 2018-002)"); script_summary(english:"Checks for the presence of Security Update 2018-002."); script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value: "The remote host is missing a macOS or Mac OS X security update that fixes multiple vulnerabilities."); script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value: "The remote host is running Mac OS X 10.11.6 or Mac OS X 10.12.6 and is missing a security update. It is therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities affecting the following components : - ATS - CFNetwork Session - CoreFoundation - CoreTypes - curl - Disk Images - iCloud Drive - Kernel - kext tools - LaunchServices - PluginKit - Security - Storage - Terminal"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208692"); # https://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2018/Mar/msg00004.html script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"http://www.nessus.org/u?e0e00f71"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value: "Install Security Update 2018-002 or later for 10.11.x or Security Update 2018-002 or later for 10.12.x."); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C"); script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:POC/RL:OF/RC:C"); script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"); script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2017-13911"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/03/29"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/03/29"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2018/04/02"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:mac_os_x"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:macos"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_family(english:"MacOS X Local Security Checks"); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof."); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl"); script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/MacOSX/Version", "Host/MacOSX/packages/boms"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("misc_func.inc"); # Compare 2 patch numbers to determine if patch requirements are satisfied. # Return true if this patch or a later patch is applied # Return false otherwise function check_patch(year, number) { local_var p_split = split(patch, sep:"-"); local_var p_year = int( p_split[0]); local_var p_num = int( p_split[1]); if (year > p_year) return TRUE; else if (year < p_year) return FALSE; else if (number >= p_num) return TRUE; else return FALSE; } get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/local_checks_enabled"); os = get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/MacOSX/Version"); if (!preg(pattern:"Mac OS X 10\.(11\.6|12\.6)([^0-9]|$)", string:os)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Mac OS X 10.11.6 or Mac OS X 10.12.6"); if ("10.11.6" >< os) patch = "2018-002"; else patch = "2018-002"; packages = get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/MacOSX/packages/boms", exit_code:1); sec_boms_report = pgrep( pattern:"^com\.apple\.pkg\.update\.(security\.|os\.SecUpd).*bom$", string:packages ); sec_boms = split(sec_boms_report, sep:'\n'); foreach package (sec_boms) { # Grab patch year and number matches = pregmatch(pattern:"[^0-9](20[0-9][0-9])[-.]([0-9]{3})[^0-9]", string:package); if (empty_or_null(matches)) continue; if (empty_or_null(matches[1]) || empty_or_null(matches[2])) continue; patch_found = check_patch(year:int(matches[1]), number:int(matches[2])); if (patch_found) exit(0, "The host has Security Update " + patch + " or later installed and is therefore not affected."); } report = '\n Missing security update : ' + patch; report += '\n Installed security BOMs : '; if (sec_boms_report) report += str_replace(find:'\n', replace:'\n ', string:sec_boms_report); else report += 'n/a'; report += '\n'; security_report_v4(port:0, severity:SECURITY_HOLE, extra:report);