CVE-2018-1116 Missing authorization in polkit

Medium 4.7 Published 10 Jul 2018 Updated 5 Aug 2024

Local attackers can trigger authentication prompts for unrelated processes, causing denial of service and information disclosure in polkit.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: An administrator
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2018-1116?

CVE-2018-1116 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 10 Jul 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A flaw was found in polkit before version 0.116. The implementation of the polkit_backend_interactive_authority_check_authorization function in polkitd allows to test for authentication and trigger authentication of unrelated processes owned by other users. This may result in a local DoS and information disclosure.

Weakness: CWE-862, CWE-285

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-1116?

It affects 3 products.

Linux distribution packages (22)

`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:0.112-26.el7`
`polkit` SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3	All versions	`0.113-5.9.1`
`polkit` SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15	All versions	`0.114-3.3.1`
`polkit` SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3	All versions	`0.113-5.9.1`
`polkit` SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3	All versions	`0.113-5.9.1`
`polkit` SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP3	All versions	`0.113-5.9.1`
`polkit` SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP3	All versions	`0.113-5.9.1`

Products include Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Polkit Project Polkit.

How do I fix CVE-2018-1116?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2018-1116 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1116 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Canonical Ubuntu Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as CLSA-2026-1780069518, CLSA-2026-1780070303, DEBIAN-CVE-2018-1116, DLA-1448-1, GHSA-hjrh-286v-8qr4, RHSA-2020:1135 and 3 more.