CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2006-2916

Improper Check for Dropped Privileges

Published: Jun 15, 2006 | Modified: Jan 21, 2024
CVSS 3.x
7.8
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
6 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
6.7 MODERATE
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Ubuntu
UNTRIAGED

artswrapper in aRts, when running setuid root on Linux 2.6.0 or later versions, does not check the return value of the setuid function call, which allows local users to gain root privileges by causing setuid to fail, which prevents artsd from dropping privileges.

Weakness

The product attempts to drop privileges but does not check or incorrectly checks to see if the drop succeeded.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Arts Kde 1.0 (including) 1.0 (including)
Arts Kde 1.2 (including) 1.2 (including)
Beast Ubuntu dapper *
Beast Ubuntu devel *
Beast Ubuntu edgy *
Beast Ubuntu feisty *
Beast Ubuntu gutsy *
Beast Ubuntu hardy *
Beast Ubuntu intrepid *
Beast Ubuntu jaunty *
Beast Ubuntu karmic *

Potential Mitigations

  • Compartmentalize the system to have “safe” areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
  • Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

References