An issue was discovered in Apport before 2.20.4. There is a path traversal issue in the Apport crash file "Package" and "SourcePackage" fields. These fields are used to build a path to the package specific hook files in the /usr/share/apport/package-hooks/ directory. An attacker can exploit this path traversal to execute arbitrary Python files from the local system.
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
| Link | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://github.com/DonnchaC/ubuntu-apport-exploitation | third party advisory issue tracking |
| https://donncha.is/2016/12/compromising-ubuntu-desktop/ | third party advisory exploit technical description |
| https://bugs.launchpad.net/apport/+bug/1648806 | patch issue tracking |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95011 | third party advisory vdb entry |
| http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3157-1 | vendor advisory |
| https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40937/ | exploit |