Vulnerability in Apport Project

CVE-2020-8831

Apport creates a world writable lock file with root ownership in the world writable /var/lock/apport directory. If the apport/ directory does not exist (this is not uncommon as /var/lock is a tmpfs), it will create the directory, otherwise it will simply continue execution using the existing directory. This allows for a symlink attack if an attacker were to create a symlink at /var/lock/apport, changing apport's lock file location. This file could then be used to escalate privileges, for example. Fixed in versions 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.23, 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.14, 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.8 and 2.20.11-0ubuntu22.

EPSS: 0.007 (48.9th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-8831?
CVE-2020-8831 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apport Project, classified under Creation of Temporary File in Directory with Insecure Permissions. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2020-04-22.
How severe is CVE-2020-8831?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2020-8831 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.