Local privilege escalation via destination symlink race
Published May 10, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024
A TOCTOU race in Grunt before 1.5.3 allows local users to write arbitrary files through file.copy operations on attacker-controlled paths. The file.copy path checked and unlinked a destination symlink before file._copy wrote to the same path, allowing the link to be replaced between check and use. Exploitation requires a lower-privileged user to write both source and destination directories and can modify files owned by Grunt's account, including shell startup files.
Summary
What happened
A TOCTOU race in Grunt before 1.5.3 allows local users to write arbitrary files through file.copy operations on attacker-controlled paths. The file.copy path checked and unlinked a destination symlink before file._copy wrote to the same path, allowing the link to be replaced between check and use. Exploitation requires a lower-privileged user to write both source and destination directories and can modify files owned by Grunt's account, including shell startup files.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-1537
- Published
- May 10, 2022
- Updated
- Aug 3, 2024
- Vendor
- GruntJS
- Product
- Grunt
- Classifications
- CWE-367, T1546.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 10, 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=unspecified <1.5.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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
- huntr symlink-race proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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