Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in lighttpd

1) Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

EUVDB-ID: #VU32620

Risk: High

CVSSv3.1: 7.1 [CVSS:3.1/CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2013-4559

CWE-ID: CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code.

lighttpd before 1.4.33 does not check the return value of the (1) setuid, (2) setgid, or (3) setgroups functions, which might cause lighttpd to run as root if it is restarted and allows remote attackers to gain privileges, as demonstrated by multiple calls to the clone function that cause setuid to fail when the user process limit is reached.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

lighttpd: 1.4.1 - 1.4.32

External links

http://download.lighttpd.net/lighttpd/security/lighttpd_sa_2013_02.txt
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2014-01/msg00049.html
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=141576815022399&w=2
http://secunia.com/advisories/55682
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/11/12/4
http://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10310
http://www.debian.org/security/2013/dsa-2795

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

How the attacker can exploit this vulnerability?

The attacker would have to send a specially crafted request to the affected application in order to exploit this vulnerability.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.