CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2014-4199

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Published: Aug 28, 2014 | Modified: Aug 29, 2017
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
6.3 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:C
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

vm-support 0.88 in VMware Tools, as distributed with VMware Workstation through 10.0.3 and other products, allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a file in /tmp.

Weakness

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Vm-support Vmware 0.88 0.88
Workstation Vmware 10.0 10.0
Tools Vmware * *
Workstation Vmware 10.0.2 10.0.2
Workstation Vmware 10.0.1 10.0.1
Workstation Vmware * 10.0.3

Potential Mitigations

  • Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
  • Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.

References