The binary serving the web server and executing basically all actions launched from the Web UI is running with root privileges. This is against the least privilege principle. If an attacker is able to execute code on the system via other vulnerabilities it is possible to directly execute commands with highest privileges.
Weakness
The elevated privilege level required to perform operations such as chroot() should be dropped immediately after the operation is performed.
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.
Related Attack Patterns
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/17.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/35.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/76.html