CVE-2007-0345 in Mac OS X
Summary
by MITRE
The (1) Activity Monitor.app/Contents/Resources/pmTool, (2) Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/kcproxy, and (3) ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/iodbcadmintool programs in /Applications/Utilities/ in Mac OS X 10.4.8 have weak permissions (writable by admin group), which allows local admin users to gain root privileges by modifying a program and then performing permissions repair via diskutil.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2024
This vulnerability exists in multiple system utilities within Mac OS X 10.4.8 where the Activity Monitor.app, Keychain Access.app, and ODBC Administrator.app applications contain executables with overly permissive file permissions. The affected programs pmTool, kcproxy, and iodbcadmintool are installed with write permissions for the admin group, creating a privilege escalation vector that allows local administrative users to elevate their privileges to root level. The flaw stems from improper access control implementation where system utilities that should operate with restricted permissions are configured to allow group write access, violating the principle of least privilege and creating a direct pathway for malicious modification.
The technical exploitation mechanism involves leveraging the writable permissions to replace or modify the vulnerable executables with malicious code that, when executed, runs with elevated privileges. Once an administrative user modifies one of these programs, they can subsequently invoke diskutil to repair permissions, which inadvertently restores the modified binary with root privileges, effectively allowing the local admin user to execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges. This represents a classic privilege escalation vulnerability where insufficient permission controls on critical system binaries create an attack surface that bypasses normal security boundaries.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it allows any user with administrative privileges to escalate their access to root level, potentially compromising the entire system. Attackers could modify these utilities to create backdoors, exfiltrate sensitive data, or establish persistent access to the system. The vulnerability affects the core security model of Mac OS X by undermining the distinction between administrative and root privileges, making it easier for attackers to gain unauthorized system control. This issue particularly impacts environments where administrative accounts are shared or where privilege separation is critical for security compliance.
Mitigation strategies should focus on correcting the file permissions for the affected executables to ensure they are not writable by the admin group, implementing proper access controls that align with security best practices. System administrators should immediately verify and correct the permissions on these specific binaries using chmod commands to restrict write access to the root user only. Additionally, regular security audits should be conducted to identify other system utilities with similar permission issues, and the system should be configured to prevent unauthorized modifications to critical system components. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized changes to system binaries and establish proper privilege management procedures to minimize the risk of administrative accounts being compromised. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource and represents a significant concern in the ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation techniques.