SB2018071628 - Ubuntu update for policykit-1



SB2018071628 - Ubuntu update for policykit-1

Published: July 16, 2018 Updated: October 30, 2026

Security Bulletin ID SB2018071628
CSH Severity
Medium
Patch available
YES
Number of vulnerabilities 4
Exploitation vector Remote access
Highest impact Data manipulation

Breakdown by Severity

Medium 25% Low 75%
  • Low
  • Medium
  • High
  • Critical

Description

This security bulletin contains information about 4 vulnerabilities.


1) NULL pointer dereference (CVE-ID: CVE-2015-3218)

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

CVSSv4: 5.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]


The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error in polkitbackend/polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and polkitd daemon crash) by calling RegisterAuthenticationAgent with an invalid object path. <a href="http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476. A remote attacker can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.


2) Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls (CVE-ID: CVE-2015-3255)

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

CVSSv4: 5.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]


The vulnerability allows a local non-authenticated attacker to read and manipulate data.

The polkit_backend_action_pool_init function in polkitbackend/polkitbackendactionpool.c in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 might allow local users to gain privileges via duplicate action IDs in action descriptions.


3) Input validation error (CVE-ID: CVE-2015-4625)

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

CVSSv4: 5.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]


The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to read and manipulate data.

Integer overflow in the authentication_agent_new_cookie function in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 allows local users to gain privileges by creating a large number of connections, which triggers the issuance of a duplicate cookie value.


4) Improper authorization (CVE-ID: CVE-2018-1116)

CWE-ID: CWE-285 - Improper Authorization

CVSSv4: 6.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]


The vulnerability allows a local attacker to obtain potentially sensitive information or cause DoS condition on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to improper implementation of the polkit_backend_interactive_authority_check_authorization function in the polkitd daemon. A local attacker can test for authentication and trigger authentication of unrelated processes owned by other users to access sensitive information or cause the service to crash.


Remediation

Install update from vendor's website.