Vulnerability identifier: #VU66492

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.2 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-20197

CWE-ID: CWE-61

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Binutils
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: 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.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Binutils: 2.30 - 2.35.1

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External links
http://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1913743
http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=26945
http://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210528-0009/

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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.