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Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

CVE-2011-4080

Medium
4/10

Summary

The sysrq_sysctl_handler function in kernel/sysctl.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.39 does not require the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability to modify the dmesg_restrict value, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions and read the kernel ring buffer by leveraging root privileges, as demonstrated by a root user in a Linux Containers (aka LXC) environment.

  • HIGH
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • COMPLETE
  • NONE

CWE-264 - Permissions Privileges and Access Controls

CWE 264 (permissions, privileges, and access controls) is not a weakness in and of itself, rather it is a category of weaknesses related to the management of permissions, privileges, and other security features used to perform access control. If not addressed, the weaknesses in this category allow attackers to gain privileges for an unintended sphere of control, access sensitive information, and execute arbitrary commands.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published