Privilege escalation in Apache Karaf

CVE-2018-11786

In Apache Karaf prior to 4.2.0 release, if the sshd service in Karaf is left on so an administrator can manage the running instance, any user with rights to the Karaf console can pivot and read/write any file on the file system to which the Karaf process user has access. This can be locked down a bit by using chroot to change the root directory to protect files outside of the Karaf install directory; it can be further locked down by defining a security manager policy that limits file system access to those directories beneath the Karaf home that are necessary for the system to run. However, this still allows anyone with ssh access to the Karaf process to read and write a large number of files as the Karaf process user.

Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation

EPSS: 0.019 (78.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-11786?
CVE-2018-11786 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Karaf, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2018-09-18.
How severe is CVE-2018-11786?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.