Privilege escalation in Linux kernel - CVE-2018-10901

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Main Vulnerability Database Vulnerabilities #VU14178

Privilege escalation in Linux kernel - CVE-2018-10901

Published: August 2, 2018


Vulnerability identifier: #VU14178
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 8.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2018-10901
CWE-ID: CWE-264
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability: No public exploit available

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the target system.

The vulnerability existsin the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization subsystem  due to the vmx.c source code file of the affected software fails to set the GDT.LIMIT value to the previous host value and instead sets it to 64 KB. A local attacker can place malicious entries in the Global Descriptor Table (GDT), submit a specially crafted request that submits malicious input and gain elevated privileges on the system.


Affected software

Linux kernel
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - TUS
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS Compute Node
kernel (Red Hat package)

How to mitigate CVE-2018-10901

Install update from vendor's website.

kernel (Red Hat package) - addressed in versions 2.6.32-358.91.4.el6, 2.6.32-431.91.3.el6, 2.6.32-504.72.4.el6, 2.6.32-573.60.4.el6, 2.6.32-754.3.5.el6

External References

Related Security Bulletins