Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS : Sudo vulnerabilities (USN-4705-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 145463

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-4705-1 advisory.

It was discovered that Sudo incorrectly handled memory when parsing command lines. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to obtain unintended access to the administrator account. (CVE-2021-3156)

It was discovered that the Sudo sudoedit utility incorrectly handled checking directory permissions. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to bypass file permissions and determine if a directory exists or not.

(CVE-2021-23239)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected sudo and / or sudo-ldap packages.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4705-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 145463

File Name: ubuntu_USN-4705-1.nasl

Version: 1.14

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 1/27/2021

Updated: 8/28/2024

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Critical

Score: 9.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 6.3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-3156

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 7.5

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:H/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:sudo, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:sudo-ldap

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Debian/dpkg-l, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 1/26/2021

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/12/2021

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability Due Dates: 4/27/2022

Exploitable With

CANVAS (CANVAS)

Core Impact

Metasploit (Sudo Heap-Based Buffer Overflow)

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-23239, CVE-2021-3156

IAVA: 2021-A-0053

USN: 4705-1