# CVE-2013-2171: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can bypass filesystem write permissions and gain privileges via crafted applications using mmap and ptrace in the FreeBSD kernel.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Jul 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DSA-2714-1, GHSA-gmfh-rp5h-w5mv

## What is CVE-2013-2171?

CVE-2013-2171 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 2 Jul 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The vm_map_lookup function in sys/vm/vm_map.c in the mmap implementation in the kernel in FreeBSD 9.0 through 9.1-RELEASE-p4 does not properly determine whether a task should have write access to a memory location, which allows local users to bypass filesystem write permissions and consequently gain privileges via a crafted application that leverages read permissions, and makes mmap and ptrace system calls.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-2171?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-2171?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2013-2171 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-2171 exists.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2013-2171 (github_poc): https://github.com/0xGabe/FreeBSD-9.0-9.1-Privilege-Escalation
- FreeBSD 9 Address Space Manipulation Privilege Escalation (metasploit)
- FreeBSD 9.0 < 9.1 - 'mmap/ptrace' Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- FreeBSD 9 - Address Space Manipulation Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-2018-17160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17160/): Memory corruption in FreeBSD (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-3954](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3954/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-4304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-4304/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-0226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0226/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0002/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-2171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-2171 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 2 Jul 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-2171 exists.

Affected product: Freebsd Freebsd. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-2171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-2171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-2171

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.