CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2022-26688

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

Published: May 26, 2022 | Modified: Jun 08, 2022
CVSS 3.x
4.4
MEDIUM
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS 2.x
4.9 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:N
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

An issue in the handling of symlinks was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2022-003 Catalina, macOS Monterey 12.3, macOS Big Sur 11.6.5. A malicious app with root privileges may be able to modify the contents of system files.

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
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15 (including) 10.15.7 (excluding)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7 (including) 10.15.7 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2020 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2020 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2020-001 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2020-001 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2020-005 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2020-005 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2020-007 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2020-007 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2021-001 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2021-001 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2021-002 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2021-002 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2021-003 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2021-003 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2021-006 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2021-006 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2021-007 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2021-007 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2021-008 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2021-008 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2022-001 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2022-001 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-security_update_2022-002 (including) 10.15.7-security_update_2022-002 (including)
Mac_os_x Apple 10.15.7-supplemental_update (including) 10.15.7-supplemental_update (including)
Macos Apple 11.0 (including) 11.6.5 (excluding)
Macos Apple 12.0.0 (including) 12.3 (excluding)

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