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Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2021-3978
CVE-2021-3978:
Linux Debian vulnerability analysis and mitigation
Overview
A security vulnerability (CVE-2021-3978) was discovered in octorpki, affecting versions prior to v1.4.0. The vulnerability was identified in the file copying mechanism where octorpki uses the "-a" flag with rsync, which forces rsync to copy binaries with the suid bit set as root (GitHub Advisory).
Technical details
The vulnerability stems from improper preservation of permissions in github.com/cloudflare/cfrpki/cmd/octorpki. The issue occurs because octorpki uses the "-a" flag when copying files with rsync, which preserves special permissions including the suid bit. This is particularly concerning as the service definition defaults to running as root. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 HIGH with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (GitHub Advisory).
Impact
The vulnerability could potentially lead to local privilege escalation when combined with another vulnerability that causes octorpki to process a malicious TAL file. This could allow an attacker to execute code with root privileges on the affected system (GitHub Advisory).
Mitigation and workarounds
The vulnerability has been patched in version v1.4.2. Users are advised to upgrade to this version or later to mitigate the security risk (GitHub Advisory).
Additional resources
Source: This report was generated using AI
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