CVE-2019-3842
Description
It was discovered that pam_systemd does not properly sanitize the environment before using the XDG_SEAT variable. It is possible for an attacker, in some particular configurations, to set a XDG_SEAT environment variable which allows for commands to be checked against polkit policies using the "allow_active" element rather than "allow_any".
Statement
For the attack to be successful, a new session must be created by pam_systemd. This is done only if the calling process is not already part of a session. Red Hat Enterprise Linux, in its default PAM configurations, does not let a session sneak in without systemd knowing about it, since pam_systemd is always called in every PAM config file. Unless a wrong PAM config file is in place, this vulnerability cannot be triggered on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and 8.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.5 | 7 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | High | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | Low | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | Low | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | Low | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Read Files or Directories
An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to read sensitive data, either by reading the data directly from a data store that is not correctly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to read the data.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Modify Files or Directories
An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to modify sensitive data, either by writing the data directly to a data store that is not correctly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to write the data.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Bypass Protection Mechanism
An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to gain privileges by modifying or reading critical data directly, or by accessing privileged functionality.
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
An attacker could use elevated privileges to execute unauthorized commands or code.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
An attacker could gain unauthorized access to resources on the system and excessively consume those resources, leading to a denial of service.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Jann Horn (Google Project Zero) for reporting this issue.
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