#VU61245 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in Linux kernel - CVE-2022-0492

Vulnerability identifier: #VU61245

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 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/E:A/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-0492

CWE-ID: CWE-264

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: Yes

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to a logic error within the cgroup_release_agent_write() function in  kernel/cgroup/cgroup-v1.c. A local user can use the cgroups v1 release_agent feature to escalate privileges and bypass the namespace isolation.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: before 5.17, 5.17

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External links
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=24f6008564183aa120d07c03d9289519c2fe02af
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2051505

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, a fully functional exploit for this vulnerability is available.