CVE-2017-6590 - Incorrect Authorization

Severity

69%

Complexity

34%

Confidentiality

165%

An issue was discovered in network-manager-applet (aka network-manager-gnome) in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, and 16.10. A local attacker could use this issue at the default Ubuntu login screen to access local files and execute arbitrary commands as the lightdm user. The exploitation requires physical access to the locked computer and the Wi-Fi must be turned on. An access point that lets you use a certificate to login is required as well, but it's easy to create one. Then, it's possible to open a nautilus window and browse directories. One also can open some applications such as Firefox, which is useful for downloading malicious binaries.

An issue was discovered in network-manager-applet (aka network-manager-gnome) in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, and 16.10. A local attacker could use this issue at the default Ubuntu login screen to access local files and execute arbitrary commands as the lightdm user. The exploitation requires physical access to the locked computer and the Wi-Fi must be turned on. An access point that lets you use a certificate to login is required as well, but it's easy to create one. Then, it's possible to open a nautilus window and browse directories. One also can open some applications such as Firefox, which is useful for downloading malicious binaries.

CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.3. CVSS Attack Vector: physical. CVSS Attack Complexity: high. CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

CVSS 2.0 Base Score 6.9. CVSS Attack Vector: local. CVSS Attack Complexity: medium. CVSS Vector: (AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C).

Demo Examples

Incorrect Authorization

CWE-863

The following code could be for a medical records application. It displays a record to already authenticated users, confirming the user's authorization using a value stored in a cookie.


               
}
}
setcookie("role", $role, time()+60*60*2);
die("\n");
DisplayMedicalHistory($_POST['patient_ID']);
die("You are not Authorized to view this record\n");

The programmer expects that the cookie will only be set when getRole() succeeds. The programmer even diligently specifies a 2-hour expiration for the cookie. However, the attacker can easily set the "role" cookie to the value "Reader". As a result, the $role variable is "Reader", and getRole() is never invoked. The attacker has bypassed the authorization system.

Overview

Type

Canonical Ubuntu Linux

First reported 7 years ago

2017-03-09 19:59:00

Last updated 5 years ago

2019-10-03 00:03:00

Affected Software

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS

12.04

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS (Long-Term Support)

14.04

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS (Long-Term Support)

16.04

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 16.10

16.10

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