CVE-2021-3621
Description
A flaw was found in SSSD, where the sssctl command was vulnerable to shell command injection via the logs-fetch and cache-expire subcommands. This flaw allows an attacker to trick the root user into running a specially crafted sssctl command, such as via sudo, to gain root access. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability.
Statement
This flaw is exploitable only when root is tricked into running a specially crafted command. The most likely scenario is when users are allowed to run a sssctl command via a dedicated sudo rule.
Mitigation
Red Hat has investigated whether a possible mitigation exists for this issue, and has not been able to identify a practical example. Please update the affected package as soon as possible.
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 | 6.7 | 8.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Network | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | High | None | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | Required | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
AV:L, because sssctl (back when the issue was found/fixed) ran against the local machine only.
PR:H and UI:N, because a malicious user is given local access with a limited sudo rules to run sssctl (High privileges), and that is sufficient (without user interaction) to elevate to full root privileges.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability,Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories; Read Application Data; Modify Application Data; Hide Activities
Attackers could execute unauthorized operating system commands, which could then be used to disable the product, or read and modify data for which the attacker does not have permissions to access directly. Since the targeted application is directly executing the commands instead of the attacker, any malicious activities may appear to come from the application or the application's owner.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Cedric Buissart (Red Hat).
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