When curl < 7.84.0 saves cookies, alt-svc and hsts data to local files, it makes the operation atomic by finalizing the operation with a rename from a temporary name to the final target file name.In that rename operation, it might accidentally widen the permissions for the target file, leaving the updated file accessible to more users than intended.
Weakness
During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.
Affected Software
Name |
Vendor |
Start Version |
End Version |
Curl |
Haxx |
7.69.0 (including) |
7.84.0 (excluding) |
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