CVE-2021-3156
Description
A flaw was found in sudo. A heap-based buffer overflow was found in the way sudo parses command line arguments. This flaw is exploitable by any local user who can execute the sudo command (by default, any local user can execute sudo) without authentication. Successful exploitation of this flaw could lead to privilege escalation. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
Security Bulletin
Statement
This flaw does not affect the versions of sudo shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, because the vulnerable code was not present in these versions.
Mitigation
Red Hat Product Security strongly recommends customers to update to fixed sudo packages once they are available. For customers who cannot update immediately, the following interim partial mitigation using systemtap is suggested:
1. Install required systemtap packages and dependencies:
systemtap yum-utils kernel-devel-"$(uname -r)"
Then for RHEL 7 install kernel debuginfo, using:
debuginfo-install -y kernel-"$(uname -r)"Then for RHEL 8 & 6 install sudo debuginfo, using:
debuginfo-install sudo
2. Create the following systemtap script: (call the file as sudoedit-block.stap)
probe process("/usr/bin/sudo").function("main") {
command = cmdline_args(0,0,"");
if (isinstr(command, "edit")) {
raise(9);
}
}
3. Install the script using the following command: (using root)# nohup stap -g sudoedit-block.stap &(This should output the PID number of the systemtap script)
This script will cause the vulnerable sudoedit binary to stop working. The sudo command will still work as usual.
The above change does not persist across reboots and must be applied after each reboot.
Please consult How to make a systemtap kernel module load persistently across reboots? (https://access.redhat.com/solutions/5752521) to learn how to
turn this into a service managed by initd.
4. Once the new fixed packages are installed, the systemtap script can be removed by killing the systemtap process. For example, by using:
# kill -s SIGTERM 7590(where 7590 is the PID of the systemtap process)
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 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | Low |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | High | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | High |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
Buffer overflows generally lead to crashes. Other attacks leading to lack of availability are possible, including putting the program into an infinite loop.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Modify Memory
Buffer overflows often can be used to execute arbitrary code, which is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy. Besides important user data, heap-based overflows can be used to overwrite function pointers that may be living in memory, pointing it to the attacker's code. Even in applications that do not explicitly use function pointers, the run-time will usually leave many in memory. For example, object methods in C++ are generally implemented using function pointers. Even in C programs, there is often a global offset table used by the underlying runtime.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control,Other
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Other
When the consequence is arbitrary code execution, this can often be used to subvert any other security service.
Frequently Asked Questions
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