Root escalation via writable cron scripts
Published Jun 11, 2024 · Updated Aug 2, 2024
Improper permissions in Linksys Velop WiFi 5 WHW01v1 1.1.13.202617 allow physically proximate attackers to gain root access. The guest account can overwrite world-writable scripts under /tmp/cron, and the privileged cron service executes injected commands as root. Exploitation requires a UART connection and guest-shell access; successful abuse permits arbitrary root-level changes to the router.
Summary
What happened
Improper permissions in Linksys Velop WiFi 5 WHW01v1 1.1.13.202617 allow physically proximate attackers to gain root access. The guest account can overwrite world-writable scripts under /tmp/cron, and the privileged cron service executes injected commands as root. Exploitation requires a UART connection and guest-shell access; successful abuse permits arbitrary root-level changes to the router.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-36821
- Published
- Jun 11, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 2, 2024
- Vendor
- Linksys
- Product
- Linksys Velop WHW01 Firmware
- Classifications
- CWE-379, CWE-732, T1053.003
- Attack vector
- physical
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 11, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 2, 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=1.1.13.202617
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
- CVE-2024-36821 UART guest-to-root proof of conceptfunctional · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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