Skip to content

Insecure permissions on build temporary rootfs in Singularity

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Sep 15, 2020 in apptainer/singularity • Updated Feb 1, 2023

Package

gomod github.com/sylabs/singularity (Go)

Affected versions

< 3.6.3

Patched versions

3.6.3

Description

Impact

Insecure permissions on temporary directories used in explicit and implicit container build operations.

When a Singularity command that results in a container build operation is executed, it is possible for a user with access to the system to read the contents of the image during the build. Additionally, if the image contains a world-writable file or directory, it is possible for a user to inject arbitrary content into the running build, which in certain circumstances may enable arbitrary code execution during the build and/or when the built container is run.

Patches

This issue is addressed in Singularity 3.6.3.

All users are advised to upgrade to 3.6.3.

Workarounds

The issue is mitigated if TMPDIR is set to a location that is only accessible to the user, as any subdirectories directly under TMPDIR cannot then be accessed by others. However, this is difficult to enforce so it is not recommended to rely on this as a mitigation.

For more information

General questions about the impact of the advisory / changes made in the 3.6.0 release can be asked in the:

Any sensitive security concerns should be directed to: [email protected]

See our Security Policy here: https://sylabs.io/security-policy

References

@dtrudg dtrudg published to apptainer/singularity Sep 15, 2020
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Sep 16, 2020
Reviewed May 24, 2021
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 24, 2021
Last updated Feb 1, 2023

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

0.207%
(58th percentile)

CVE ID

CVE-2020-25040

GHSA ID

GHSA-jv9c-w74q-6762

Source code

No known source code

Credits

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.