systemd (systemd-tmpfiles) < 236 - 'fs.protected_hardlinks=0' Local Privilege Escalation

  • 作者: Michael Orlitzky
    日期: 2018-01-29
  • 类别:
    平台:
  • 来源:https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43935/
  • Product: systemd (systemd-tmpfiles)
    Versions-affected: 236 and earlier
    Author: Michael Orlitzky
    Fixed-in: commit 5579f85 , version 237
    Bug-report: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/7736
    Acknowledgments: Lennart Poettering who, instead of calling me an idiot
    for not realizing that systemd enables fs.protected_hardlinks by
    default, went out of his way to harden the non-default configuration.
    
    
    == Summary ==
    
    Before version 237, the systemd-tmpfiles program will change the
    permissions and ownership of hard links. If the administrator disables
    the fs.protected_hardlinks sysctl, then an attacker can create hard
    links to sensitive files and subvert systemd-tmpfiles, particularly
    with "Z" type entries.
    
    Systemd as PID 1 with the default fs.protected_hardlinks=1 is safe.
    
    
    == Details ==
    
    When running as PID 1, systemd enables the fs.protected_hardlinks
    sysctl by default; that prevents an attacker from creating hard links
    to files that he can't write to. If, however, the administrator should
    decide to disable that sysctl, then hard links may be created to any
    file (on the same filesystem).
    
    Before version 237, the systemd-tmpfiles program will voluntarily
    change the permissions and ownership of a hard link, and that is
    exploitable in a few scenarios. The most problematic and easiest to
    exploit is the "Z" type tmpfiles.d entry, which changes ownership and
    permissions recursively. For an example, consider the following
    tmpfiles.d entries,
    
    d /var/lib/systemd-exploit-recursive 0755 mjo mjo
    Z /var/lib/systemd-exploit-recursive 0755 mjo mjo
    
    Whenever systemd-tmpfiles is run, those entries make mjo the owner of
    everything under and including /var/lib/systemd-exploit-recursive. After
    the first run, mjo can create a hard link inside that directory pointing
    to /etc/passwd. The next run (after a reboot, for example) changes the
    ownership of /etc/passwd.
    
    A proof-of-concept can be run from the systemd source tree, using
    either two separate terminals or sudo:
    
    root # sysctl -w fs.protected_hardlinks=0
    root # sysctl -w kernel.grsecurity.linking_restrictions=0
    root # ./build/systemd-tmpfiles --create
    mjo $ ln /etc/passwd /var/lib/systemd-exploit-recursive/x
    root # ./build/systemd-tmpfiles --create
    mjo $ /bin/ls -l /etc/passwd
    -rwxr-xr-x 2 mjo mjo 1504 Dec 20 14:27 /etc/passwd
    
    More elaborate exploits are possible, and not only the "Z" type is
    vulnerable.
    
    
    == Resolution ==
    
    The recursive change of ownership/permissions does not seem to be safely
    doable without fs.protected_hardlinks enabled.
    
    In version 237 and later, systemd-tmpfiles calls fstatat() immediately
    after obtaining a file descriptor from open():
    
    fd = open(path, O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC|O_PATH);
    if (fd < 0) {
    ...
    }
    if (fstatat(fd, "", &st, AT_EMPTY_PATH) < 0)
    
    The st->st_nlink field is then checked to determine whether or not fd
    describes a hard link. If it does, the ownership/permissions are not
    changed, and an error is displayed:
    
    if (hardlink_vulnerable(&st)) {
    log_error("Refusing to set permissions on hardlink...", path);
    return -EPERM;
    }
    
    There is still a tiny window between open() and fstatat() where the
    attacker can fool this countermeasure by removing an existing hard
    link to, say, /etc/passwd. In that case, st->st_nlink will be 1, but
    fd still references /etc/passwd. The attack succeeds, but is much
    harder to do, and the window is as narrow as possible. More to the
    point, it seems unavoidable when implementing the tmpfiles.d
    specification.
    
    
    == Mitigation ==
    
    Leave the fs.protected_hardlinks sysctl enabled.