Root privilege escalation via unsafe setuid permission changes
Published Feb 4, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024
Privilege escalation in MariaDB 10.4.7 through 10.4.11 allows local users with mysql access to gain root privileges through mysql_install_db. The script makes auth_pam_tool_dir writable by mysql and then unconditionally gives root ownership and mode 04755 to a replaceable auth_pam_tool path. A compromised mysql account must await automatic or administrator-triggered script execution; the selected file then becomes a setuid-root binary.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in MariaDB 10.4.7 through 10.4.11 allows local users with mysql access to gain root privileges through mysql_install_db. The script makes auth_pam_tool_dir writable by mysql and then unconditionally gives root ownership and mode 04755 to a replaceable auth_pam_tool path. A compromised mysql account must await automatic or administrator-triggered script execution; the selected file then becomes a setuid-root binary.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-7221
- Published
- Feb 4, 2020
- Updated
- Aug 4, 2024
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-59, T1548.001
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 4, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- mysql_install_db symlink attack demonstrationproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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