CVE-2018-4052 in Galaxy
Summary
by MITRE
An exploitable local information leak vulnerability exists in the privileged helper tool of GOG Galaxy's Games, version 1.2.47 for macOS. An attacker can pass a PID and receive information running on it that would usually only be accessible to the root user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/21/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-4052 represents a critical local information disclosure flaw within GOG Galaxy's privileged helper tool on macOS systems. This issue affects version 1.2.47 and stems from improper privilege separation mechanisms within the application's architecture. The vulnerability exists in the privileged helper tool that is designed to operate with elevated privileges to perform system-level operations, yet fails to properly validate or restrict access to process information based on the requesting user's privileges.
The technical flaw manifests when the privileged helper tool accepts a process identifier parameter and returns information about the specified process without adequate authorization checks. This design flaw allows any local user to pass a process identifier to the helper tool and receive detailed information that should typically be restricted to root-level access only. The vulnerability essentially creates a privilege escalation path where unprivileged users can obtain sensitive system information that would normally require administrative privileges to access.
From an operational perspective, this information leak vulnerability poses significant risks to system security and confidentiality. Attackers can leverage this flaw to gather process information about running applications, potentially including memory contents, file handles, network connections, and other sensitive metadata that could aid in further exploitation attempts. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure as this leaked information could provide attackers with insights into system processes, application behavior, and potential attack vectors for subsequent compromise. This vulnerability particularly affects macOS environments where GOG Galaxy is installed and could be exploited by malicious actors to gain a better understanding of the target system's configuration and running processes.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and demonstrates poor privilege management practices that violate the principle of least privilege. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under T1059 for command and scripting interpreter and T1003 for credentials theft, as the information gathered could be used to identify potential credentials or authentication mechanisms within running processes. The lack of proper input validation and privilege checking in the helper tool represents a fundamental security flaw that undermines the integrity of the application's privilege model.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper access controls within the privileged helper tool to validate the requesting user's privileges before returning any process information. System administrators should immediately update to the latest version of GOG Galaxy where this vulnerability has been patched, as the vendor has addressed this issue in subsequent releases. Additionally, monitoring for unauthorized access to privileged helper tools and implementing proper process isolation techniques can help prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities. The recommended approach includes ensuring that all helper tools properly validate input parameters and enforce strict privilege boundaries to prevent unauthorized information disclosure. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of privileged helper tools to authorized users only, thereby reducing the attack surface for such information disclosure vulnerabilities.