CVE-2018-16267 in Tizen
Summary
by MITRE
The system-popup system service in Tizen allows an unprivileged process to perform popup-related system actions, due to improper D-Bus security policy configurations. Such actions include the triggering system poweroff menu, and prompting a popup with arbitrary strings. This affects Tizen before 5.0 M1, and Tizen-based firmwares including Samsung Galaxy Gear series before build RE2.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/25/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-16267 represents a critical security flaw within the system-popup system service of the Tizen operating system platform. This issue stems from inadequate D-Bus security policy configurations that permit unprivileged processes to execute popup-related system actions. The vulnerability affects Tizen versions prior to 5.0 M1 and impacts Tizen-based firmware implementations including Samsung Galaxy Gear series devices before build RE2, creating a significant attack surface for malicious actors targeting embedded IoT and wearable devices.
The technical flaw manifests through improper D-Bus security policy enforcement where the system-popup service fails to properly validate the privileges of processes attempting to interact with its interface. This misconfiguration allows any unprivileged process to trigger system-level popup operations and inject arbitrary strings into displayed popups, effectively bypassing normal access controls that should restrict such operations to privileged system components only. The vulnerability operates at the middleware level of the operating system, leveraging the D-Bus communication framework to execute unauthorized actions without proper authentication or authorization checks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it provides attackers with the capability to manipulate user interfaces and potentially execute more sophisticated attacks. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to display misleading information to users, potentially facilitating social engineering attacks, or to trigger system poweroff menus at will, causing denial of service conditions. The ability to inject arbitrary strings into popups also opens possibilities for cross-site scripting attacks or information disclosure through crafted malicious payloads that could be displayed to unsuspecting users.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic example of insufficient privilege checking in system services. From an ATT&CK perspective, it maps to privilege escalation techniques and can be used to establish persistence through user interface manipulation. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper D-Bus security policy implementation and highlights the risks associated with overly permissive access controls in embedded systems. Organizations deploying Tizen-based devices should consider this vulnerability as part of their broader security posture assessment, particularly for IoT and wearable devices where user interface manipulation could have significant operational consequences.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper D-Bus security policies that enforce strict access controls and privilege validation for system-popup service interactions. Device manufacturers should upgrade to Tizen 5.0 M1 or later versions where the vulnerability has been addressed through improved security policy configurations. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring of D-Bus communications can help detect anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. Regular security audits of system services and their D-Bus interfaces should be conducted to identify similar privilege escalation vulnerabilities in other components of the operating system stack.