Privilege escalation in Grunt

1) UNIX symbolic link following

EUVDB-ID: #VU72013

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-1537

CWE-ID: CWE-61 - UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following

Exploit availability: No

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to a symlink following issue. A local user can create a specially crafted symbolic link to the GruntJS user's .bashrc file and overwrite it with privileges of the application.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in privilege escalation.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

grunt: 0.1.0 - 1.5.2

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:gruntjs:grunt:0.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:gruntjs:grunt:0.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:gruntjs:grunt:0.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://huntr.dev/bounties/0179c3e5-bc02-4fc9-8491-a1a319b51b4d
https://github.com/gruntjs/grunt/commit/58016ffac5ed9338b63ecc2a63710f5027362bae

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.