Vulnerabilities > CVE-2020-10174 - Link Following vulnerability in multiple products

047910
CVSS 7.0 - HIGH
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
HIGH
Privileges required
LOW
Confidentiality impact
HIGH
Integrity impact
HIGH
Availability impact
HIGH

Summary

init_tmp in TeeJee.FileSystem.vala in Timeshift before 20.03 unsafely reuses a preexisting temporary directory in the predictable location /tmp/timeshift. It follows symlinks in this location or uses directories owned by unprivileged users. Because Timeshift also executes scripts under this location, an attacker can attempt to win a race condition to replace scripts created by Timeshift with attacker-controlled scripts. Upon success, an attacker-controlled script is executed with full root privileges. This logic is practically always triggered when Timeshift runs regardless of the command-line arguments used.

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 familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-4312-1.NASL
    descriptionMatthias Gerstner discovered that Timeshift did not securely create temporary files. An attacker could exploit a race condition in Timeshift and potentially execute arbitrary commands as root. 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 seen2020-04-04
    modified2020-03-31
    plugin id135028
    published2020-03-31
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2020 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/135028
    titleUbuntu 19.10 : Timeshift vulnerability (USN-4312-1)
    code
    #
    # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    #
    # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
    # extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-4312-1. 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(135028);
      script_version("1.2");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/04/02");
    
      script_cve_id("CVE-2020-10174");
      script_xref(name:"USN", value:"4312-1");
    
      script_name(english:"Ubuntu 19.10 : Timeshift vulnerability (USN-4312-1)");
      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:
    "Matthias Gerstner discovered that Timeshift did not securely create
    temporary files. An attacker could exploit a race condition in
    Timeshift and potentially execute arbitrary commands as root.
    
    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/4312-1/"
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"solution", 
        value:"Update the affected timeshift package."
      );
      script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/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:H/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:"plugin_type", value:"local");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:timeshift");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:19.10");
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2020/03/05");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2020/03/30");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2020/03/31");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
      script_end_attributes();
    
      script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
      script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2020 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2020 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:"^(19\.10)$", string:release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu 19.10", "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:"19.10", pkgname:"timeshift", pkgver:"19.01+ds-2ubuntu0.1")) flag++;
    
    if (flag)
    {
      security_report_v4(
        port       : 0,
        severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
        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, "timeshift");
    }
    
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2020-6B3AE09449.NASL
    descriptionSecurity fix for CVE-2020-10174 Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-03-26
    modified2020-03-24
    plugin id134840
    published2020-03-24
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/134840
    titleFedora 31 : timeshift (2020-6b3ae09449)
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2020-1050D60507.NASL
    descriptionSecurity fix for CVE-2020-10174 Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-03-28
    modified2020-03-25
    plugin id134882
    published2020-03-25
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/134882
    titleFedora 30 : timeshift (2020-1050d60507)