high8.8Known exploited
CVE-2021-3493
Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Exploited in the wild
This vulnerability is on a Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue, added 2022-10-20. Federal due date: 2022-11-10.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Impact
The overlayfs implementation in the linux kernel did not properly validate with respect to user namespaces the setting of file capabilities on files in an underlying file system. Due to the combination of unprivileged user namespaces along with a patch carried in the Ubuntu kernel to allow unprivileged overlay mounts, an attacker could use this to gain elevated privileges.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| Canonical | Ubuntu Linux | before 18.04 from 18.04.1 before 20.04 before 20.10 |
Weakness classification
References
- NVD record
- CVE.org record
- CISA KEV catalog
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162434/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0076-1.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162866/Ubuntu-OverlayFS-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165151/Ubuntu-Overlayfs-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7c03e2cda4a584cadc398e8f6641ca9988a39d52
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4917-1
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/04/16/1
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162434/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0076-1.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162866/Ubuntu-OverlayFS-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165151/Ubuntu-Overlayfs-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7c03e2cda4a584cadc398e8f6641ca9988a39d52
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4917-1
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/04/16/1
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-3493