Unchecked return value in Inetutils - GNU network utilities - CVE-2023-40303
Published: August 23, 2023
Vulnerability identifier: #VU79879
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-2023-40303
CWE-ID: CWE-252
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.
The vulnerability exists due to usage of an unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd while the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges
before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process. A local user can abuse this situation and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Affected software
Inetutils - GNU network utilities
Ubuntu
inetutils (Ubuntu package)
inetutils-telnetd (Ubuntu package)
inetutils-tools (Ubuntu package)
Ubuntu
inetutils (Ubuntu package)
inetutils-telnetd (Ubuntu package)
inetutils-tools (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2023-40303
Install updates from vendor's website.
inetutils (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 2:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2, 2:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm3, 2:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm2, 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2+esm1
inetutils-telnetd (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2, 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1, 2:2.4-2ubuntu1.1
inetutils-tools (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2, 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1, 2:2.4-2ubuntu1.1
inetutils-telnetd (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2, 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1, 2:2.4-2ubuntu1.1
inetutils-tools (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2, 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1, 2:2.4-2ubuntu1.1