mitre / mitre/secure-coding-case-studies
Case Study on CVE-2021-4034 (PwnKit) Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
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Description
We propose adding a case study for CVE-2021-4034 (PwnKit). Vulnerability: CVE-2021-4034 (PwnKit), Software: polkit (pkexec), Primary Weakness: Improper Input Validation and Unsafe Environment Variable Handling (CWE-20, CWE-269), Group Member(s): Lakshmi Sankari Vissapragada, Supraja Naraharisetty, Ganesh Jasti.
PwnKit is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in polkit’s pkexec utility that allows an unprivileged user to gain root access. The vulnerability arises due to improper handling of environment variables and argument processing, where pkexec fails to validate inputs correctly. This flaw enables attackers to manipulate environment variables and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
References:
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the NVD and CVE Record references for CVE-2021-4034, then review the issue's description of polkit's pkexec vulnerability and its CWE-20 and CWE-269 weaknesses. Done means adding a case study that accurately explains the local privilege escalation, affected software, input and environment-variable handling, and both references.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- operating-systems, security
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 52/100