Privilege escalation via symlink-target metadata application
Published Nov 15, 2024 · Updated Nov 21, 2024
Symlink following in rclone 1.59.0 through 1.68.1 allows local users to alter protected file ownership and permissions. The local backend applies incoming chown and chmod metadata to a symlink target instead of using link-safe operations on the link. Exploitation requires --links and --metadata plus a privileged copy of an attacker-controlled directory, enabling access to protected files or privilege escalation.
Summary
What happened
Symlink following in rclone 1.59.0 through 1.68.1 allows local users to alter protected file ownership and permissions. The local backend applies incoming chown and chmod metadata to a symlink target instead of using link-safe operations on the link. Exploitation requires --links and --metadata plus a privileged copy of an attacker-controlled directory, enabling access to protected files or privilege escalation.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-52522
- Published
- Nov 15, 2024
- Updated
- Nov 21, 2024
- Vendor
- Rclone
- Product
- rclone
- Classifications
- CWE-61, CWE-281, CWE-59, T1222.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 15, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 21, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=>= 1.59.0, < 1.68.2
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
- Upstream symlink-target metadata proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo