Privilege escalation in IBM VIOS

1) Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

EUVDB-ID: #VU49885

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-4887

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

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to the gencore user command allows files creation wit arbitrary content in any directory on the system. A local user can abuse this behavior and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

IBM VIOS: 3.1.0 - 3.1.2

External links

http://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/security/gencore_advisory.asc

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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