#VU44035 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in Linux kernel - CVE-2011-4080
Published: May 25, 2012 / Updated: August 11, 2020
Vulnerability identifier: #VU44035
Vulnerability risk: Medium
CVSSv4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green
CVE-ID: CVE-2011-4080
CWE-ID: CWE-264
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Software vendor:
Linux Foundation
Linux Foundation
Description
The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to gain access to sensitive information.
The sysrq_sysctl_handler function in kernel/sysctl.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.39 does not require the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability to modify the dmesg_restrict value, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions and read the kernel ring buffer by leveraging root privileges, as demonstrated by a root user in a Linux Containers (aka LXC) environment.
Remediation
Install update from vendor's website.
External links
- http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.39
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=bfdc0b497faa82a0ba2f9dddcf109231dd519fcc
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/10/26/10
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/bfdc0b497faa82a0ba2f9dddcf109231dd519fcc