Privilege escalation in Ubuntu - CVE-2018-6557
Published: August 21, 2018 / Updated: August 23, 2018
Vulnerability identifier: #VU14514
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: 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/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2018-6557
CWE-ID: CWE-264
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vendor: Canonical Ltd.
Affected software:
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the target system.
The vulnerability exists in the MOTD update script due to improper processing of temporary files. A local attacker can supply specially crafted symbolic links (symlinks) from a temporary file to a critical file on the system to overwrite files with administrator privileges.
How to mitigate CVE-2018-6557
Install update from vendor's website.