CVE-2019-19728 in Slurm
Summary
by MITRE
SchedMD Slurm before 18.08.9 and 19.x before 19.05.5 executes srun --uid with incorrect privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-19728 affects SchedMD Slurm workload management and job scheduling software versions prior to 18.08.9 and 19.x before 19.05.5. This security flaw resides in the privileged execution handling of the srun command when invoked with the --uid parameter, creating a potential privilege escalation vector within high-performance computing environments. The issue specifically impacts systems where Slurm is used for resource allocation and job execution across clusters, making it particularly concerning for research institutions, government agencies, and enterprise computing facilities that rely on robust job scheduling infrastructure.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper privilege handling within the Slurm daemon processes when processing the srun command with user ID specification. When administrators or users execute srun with the --uid flag, the system fails to properly validate or restrict the privilege escalation mechanisms that should normally be enforced. This flaw allows unauthorized users to potentially execute processes with elevated privileges beyond their intended access levels, effectively bypassing the normal security boundaries that should exist between different user contexts within the cluster environment. The vulnerability manifests through improper privilege checking during command execution, where the system does not adequately verify that the requesting user has the necessary authorization to assume the specified user ID.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive data within HPC environments. Attackers could leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially gaining access to other users' jobs, data, or system resources. The implications are particularly severe in multi-tenant computing environments where multiple research groups or organizations share the same cluster infrastructure, as successful exploitation could lead to data breaches, job interference, or complete system compromise. Organizations relying on Slurm for critical computational workloads face significant risk from this vulnerability, especially those with less stringent security monitoring in place.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-19728 primarily focus on upgrading to patched versions of Slurm where version 18.08.9 or 19.05.5 and later contain the necessary privilege validation fixes. System administrators should immediately implement this upgrade process while maintaining thorough monitoring of cluster activities for any suspicious behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additional defensive measures include implementing strict access controls for the srun command, particularly restricting its usage to trusted administrators, and configuring proper audit logging to track privilege-related operations. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation to limit access to Slurm management interfaces and establishing comprehensive monitoring procedures that can detect unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which addresses improper privilege management, and represents a critical concern within the ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting the execution of processes with elevated system privileges.