PolicyKit up to 0.112 polkitd polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c authentication_agent_new null pointer dereference

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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3.8$0-$5k0.00

A vulnerability was found in PolicyKit up to 0.112. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function authentication_agent_new of the file polkitbackend/polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c of the component polkitd. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

The authentication_agent_new function in polkitbackend/polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and polkitd daemon crash) by calling RegisterAuthenticationAgent with an invalid object path.

The weakness was presented 10/26/2015 by Tavis Ormandy (Website). It is possible to read the advisory at securityfocus.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2015-3218 since 04/10/2015. The exploitation appears to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 84686 (Fedora 22 : polkit-0.113-1.fc22 (2015-11058)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Fedora Local Security Checks and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 197205 (Ubuntu Security Notification for Policykit-1 Vulnerabilities (USN-3717-1)).

Upgrading to version 0.113 eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published even before and not after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (84686). See 78884, 78885, 78888 and 121137 for similar entries.

Productinfo

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Version

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 3.8

VulDB Base Score: 4.0
VulDB Temp Score: 3.8
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
ATT&CK: Unknown

Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 84686
Nessus Name: Fedora 22 : polkit-0.113-1.fc22 (2015-11058)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 867773
OpenVAS Name: Fedora Update for polkit FEDORA-2015-11743
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: PolicyKit 0.113

Timelineinfo

04/10/2015 🔍
07/03/2015 +84 days 🔍
07/14/2015 +11 days 🔍
07/14/2015 +0 days 🔍
07/29/2015 +15 days 🔍
10/26/2015 +89 days 🔍
10/26/2015 +0 days 🔍
10/27/2015 +1 days 🔍
11/02/2015 +6 days 🔍
06/25/2022 +2427 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: USN-3717-1
Researcher: Tavis Ormandy
Status: Not defined

CVE: CVE-2015-3218 (🔍)
SecurityTracker: 1035023
Vulnerability Center: 54096 - PolicyKit <0.113 Local DoS Vulnerability in RegisterAuthenticationAgent, Low
SecurityFocus: 76086 - polkit CVE-2015-3218 Local Denial of Service Vulnerability

See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 10/27/2015 08:46 AM
Updated: 06/25/2022 06:14 AM
Changes: 10/27/2015 08:46 AM (65), 03/09/2018 10:38 AM (10), 06/25/2022 06:14 AM (4)
Complete: 🔍

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