MediumPublic exploit

Privilege escalation via sudoedit pseudo-command matching in sudo

IdentifiersCVE-2010-0426CWE-266

CVE-2010-0426 is a local privilege escalation flaw in sudo’s -e option (sudoedit) affecting sudo 1.6.x before 1.6.9p21 and 1.7.x before 1.7.2p4. The issue arises from incorrect command-matching logic for pseudo-commands defined in sudoers. Sudo treats sudoedit as a pseudo-command rather than a normal path-based executable. In vulnerable versions, the pseudo-command matching logic was only applied when the user-supplied command contained no slash characters. If a user invoked a command such as "sudo ./sudoedit", sudo instead followed the normal command-matching path and used stat(2)-based checks, allowing "./sudoedit" supplied by the user to match the sudoers pseudo-command entry "sudoedit". As a result, a local user who is authorized in sudoers to run sudoedit can place a crafted executable named sudoedit in an arbitrary directory, such as the current working directory or home directory, and execute arbitrary commands under the target account.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an authorized local user to bypass the intended restriction of sudoedit and execute arbitrary commands as the account they are permitted to run sudoedit as, typically root. This results in local privilege escalation from the invoking user to the configured sudo target account.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, remove or restrict sudoedit permissions in sudoers for untrusted users, since the vulnerability has no impact where users are not allowed to run sudoedit. Limit writable/executable locations from which users can invoke crafted binaries and monitor for suspicious use of sudoedit with relative paths such as "./sudoedit". The provided content does not specify additional vendor-endorsed mitigations for CVE-2010-0426 beyond restricting sudoedit access and applying the fixed versions.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade sudo to a fixed release: 1.7.2p4 or later in the 1.7 branch, or 1.6.9p21 or later in the 1.6 branch. Review sudoers policy to ensure sudoedit is granted only where necessary.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.

VALID 1 / 1 TOTALView more in app

privesc-CVE-2010-0426MaturityPoCVerified exploit

This repository provides a local privilege escalation exploit for CVE-2010-0426, targeting vulnerable versions of sudo (1.6.x <= 1.6.9p21 and 1.7.x <= 1.7.2p4) on Linux. The exploit is implemented as a Bash script ('exploit.sh') that creates a malicious 'sudoedit' script in /tmp, which, when executed via the vulnerable sudoedit configuration, spawns a root shell. The Dockerfile sets up a vulnerable environment with the affected sudo version and a user with NOPASSWD sudoedit rights for /etc/fstab, allowing for easy testing of the exploit. The README provides detailed setup and usage instructions. The main exploit capability is local privilege escalation to root by exploiting improper handling of the sudoedit command. The key fingerprintable endpoints are the temporary file '/tmp/sudoedit' (malicious script) and the target file '/etc/fstab' (used to trigger sudoedit). The repository is structured for educational and testing purposes, with clear separation between environment setup (Dockerfile), exploit code (exploit.sh), and documentation (README.md).

t0kxDisclosed Dec 16, 2017bashdockerfilelocal

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

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VendorProductType

Todd MillerSudoapplication

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ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

2 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

2 SOURCESView more in app

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

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Social activity