Local service starvation via retained CAP_SYS_NICE
Published Apr 29, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024
Privilege escalation in affected GNOME Shell downstream builds allows local users to interrupt services through scheduler starvation. Those builds attach CAP_SYS_NICE to the gnome-shell executable, so code loaded into its process can raise scheduling priority without dropping that capability. The condition requires a local low-privilege user and a distribution that grants the file capability; competing services can be denied CPU time.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in affected GNOME Shell downstream builds allows local users to interrupt services through scheduler starvation. Those builds attach CAP_SYS_NICE to the gnome-shell executable, so code loaded into its process can raise scheduling priority without dropping that capability. The condition requires a local low-privilege user and a distribution that grants the file capability; competing services can be denied CPU time.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-3982
- Published
- Apr 29, 2022
- Updated
- Aug 3, 2024
- Vendor
- GNOME
- Product
- GNOME Shell
- Classifications
- CWE-273, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 29, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 3, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=gnome-shell downstream versions using CAP_SYS_NICE
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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