#VU66492 UNIX symbolic link following in Binutils - CVE-2021-20197
Published: August 15, 2022
Vulnerability identifier: #VU66492
Vulnerability risk: Low
CVSSv4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2021-20197
CWE-ID: CWE-61
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerable software:
Binutils
Binutils
Software vendor:
GNU
GNU
Description
The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.
The vulnerability exists due to a symlink following issue within the ar, objcopy, strip, ranlib utilities wen writing output. A local user can create a specially crafted symbolic link to a critical file on the system and overwrite it with privileges of the application.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in privilege escalation.
Remediation
Install updates from vendor's website.