CVE-2019-10161: Path Traversal

Published Jun 13, 2019
·
Updated

It was discovered that libvirtd before versions 4.10.1 and 5.4.1 would permit read-only clients to use the virDomainSaveImageGetXMLDesc() API, specifying an arbitrary path which would be accessed with the permissions of the libvirtd process. An attacker with access to the libvirtd socket could use this to probe the existence of arbitrary files, cause denial of service or cause libvirtd to execute arbitrary programs.

Other sources

It was discovered that libvirtd would permit read-only clients to use the virDomainSaveImageGetXMLDesc() API, specifying an arbitrary path which would be accessed with the permissions of the libvirtd process. An attacker with access to the libvirtd socket could use this to probe the existence of arbitrary files, cause denial of service or cause libvirtd to execute arbitrary programs.

It was discovered that libvirtd would permit readonly clients to use the virDomainSaveImageGetXMLDesc() API, specifying an arbitrary path which would be accessed with the permissions of the libvirtd process. An attacker with access to the libvirtd socket could use this to probe the existence of arbitrary files, cause denial of service or cause libvirtd to execute arbitrary programs.

This vulnerability was first present in libvirt v0.9.4.

Red Hat

Affected Software

19 affected componentsFixes available
redhat/libvirt<0:0.10.2-64.el6_10.2
0:0.10.2-64.el6_10.2
redhat/libvirt<0:4.5.0-10.el7_6.12
0:4.5.0-10.el7_6.12
redhat/redhat-release-virtualization-host<0:4.3.4-1.el7e
0:4.3.4-1.el7e
redhat/redhat-virtualization-host<0:4.3.4-20190620.3.el7_6
0:4.3.4-20190620.3.el7_6
redhat/libvirt<4.10.1
4.10.1
redhat/libvirt<5.4.1
5.4.1
redhat libvirt<4.10.1
redhat libvirt>=5.0.0<5.4.1
redhat Enterprise Linux=6.0
redhat Enterprise Linux=7.0
redhat Enterprise Linux=8.0
redhat Virtualization=4.0
redhat Virtualization Host=4.0
redhat Enterprise Linux=7.0
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=14.04
All of the following
Any of the following
redhat Virtualization=4.0
redhat Virtualization Host=4.0
redhat Enterprise Linux=7.0
debian/libvirt
7.0.0-3+deb11u39.0.0-4+deb12u211.3.0-3+deb13u212.0.0-1

Remediation

Information

The Unix permissions of libvirt's read-only socket can be made more restrictive than the default (0777) by editing `/etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf`. The settings `unix_sock_group = libvirt` and `unix_sock_ro_perms = 0770` will restrict access to only members of `libvirt`, who already have management access to virtual machines.

Event History

Jun 20, 2019
CVE Published
12:00 PM
Jul 30, 2019
CVE Published
via MITRE·10:14 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·10:14 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·11:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Feb 20, 2026
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·09:57 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Data Sourced
via Debian·09:58 PM
DescriptionAffected Software
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·09:58 PM
Description

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2019-10161?

CVE-2019-10161 is a vulnerability discovered in libvirtd before versions 4.10.1 and 5.4.1.

2

What is the severity of CVE-2019-10161?

The severity of CVE-2019-10161 is high with a CVSS score of 8.8.

3

How does CVE-2019-10161 affect libvirt?

CVE-2019-10161 allows read-only clients to use the virDomainSaveImageGetXMLDesc() API with an arbitrary path, leading to potential privilege escalation.

4

What is the remedy for CVE-2019-10161?

The remedy for CVE-2019-10161 is to update libvirtd to version 4.10.1 or 5.4.1.

5

Where can I find more information about CVE-2019-10161?

You can find more information about CVE-2019-10161 at the following references: [link 1](https://access.redhat.com/libvirt-privesc-vulnerabilities), [link 2](https://libvirt.org/git/?p=libvirt.git;a=commit;h=aed6a032cead4386472afb24b16196579e239580), [link 3](https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi/show_bug.cgi?id=1722463).

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