# CVE-2021-3020: Privilege escalation in n/a

> A local attacker with hacluster user access can exploit a setuid binary to execute arbitrary commands as root, achieving full system privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cw6w-5gqc-jh8j, MGASA-2023-0073

## What is CVE-2021-3020?

CVE-2021-3020 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Aug 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in ClusterLabs Hawk (aka HA Web Konsole) through 2.3.0-15. It ships the binary hawk_invoke (built from tools/hawk_invoke.c), intended to be used as a setuid program. This allows the hacluster user to invoke certain commands as root (with an attempt to limit this to safe combinations). This user is able to execute an interactive "shell" that isn't limited to the commands specified in hawk_invoke, allowing escalation to root.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3020?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Clusterlabs Hawk.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3020?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-3020 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3020 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2020-35458](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35458/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3020 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3020 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Aug 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3020 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2021-3020/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3020/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3020
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3020
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3020

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3020/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.