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/etc/passwd tampering privesc

Moderate
haircommander published GHSA-cm9x-c3rh-7rc4 Dec 23, 2022

Package

cri-o (Package)

Affected versions

all

Patched versions

1.26.0

Description

Impact

It is possible to craft an environment variable with newlines to add entries to a container's /etc/passwd. It is possible to circumvent admission validation of username/UID by adding such an entry.

Note: because the pod author is in control of the container's /etc/passwd, this is not considered a new risk factor. However, this advisory is being opened for transparency and as a way of tracking fixes.

Patches

1.26.0 will have the fix. More patches will be posted as they're available.

Workarounds

Additional security controls like SELinux should prevent any damage a container is able to do with root on the host. Using SELinux is recommended because this class of attack is already possible by manually editing the container's /etc/passwd

References

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2022-4318

Weaknesses

No CWEs