CVE-2021-3560
Red Hat Polkit Incorrect Authorization Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 2 June 2023). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the privileges of the requestor to the root user. This flaw could be used by an unprivileged local attacker to, for example, create a new local administrator. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 22.19% probability · 98th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Listed 12 May 2023 · due 2 June 2023
- Weakness
- CWE-863, CWE-754
- Affected
- polkit project/polkit · debian/debian linux · canonical/ubuntu linux · redhat/virtualization · redhat/virtualization host · redhat/openshift container platform
- Source
- secalert@redhat.com
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3560
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172836/polkit-Authentication-Bypass.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172846/Facebook-Fizz-Denial-Of-Service.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.blog/2021-06-10-privilege-escalation-polkit-root-on-linux-with-bug/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172836/polkit-Authentication-Bypass.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172846/Facebook-Fizz-Denial-Of-Service.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.blog/2021-06-10-privilege-escalation-polkit-root-on-linux-with-bug/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-3560US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.