Networkmanager-libreswan: local privilege escalation via leftupdown
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2024-9050 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | redhat |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2024-10-22 13:15:02 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-06-26 00:16:44 UTC |
| Description | A flaw was found in the libreswan client plugin for NetworkManager (NetkworkManager-libreswan), where it fails to properly sanitize the VPN configuration from the local unprivileged user. In this configuration, composed by a key-value format, the plugin fails to escape special characters, leading the application to interpret values as keys. One of the most critical parameters that could be abused by a malicious user is the `leftupdown`key. This key takes an executable command as a value and is used to specify what executes as a callback in NetworkManager-libreswan to retrieve configuration settings back to NetworkManager. As NetworkManager uses Polkit to allow an unprivileged user to control the system's network configuration, a malicious actor could achieve local privilege escalation and potential code execution as root in the targeted machine by creating a malicious configuration. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.004520000 probability, percentile 0.360500000 (date 2026-06-29)
Problem Types: CWE-94 | CWE-94 Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') | CWE-noinfo Not enough information
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 7.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 7.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8355 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8312 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8338 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi | [email protected] | bugzilla.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8356 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8358 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8353 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/10/25/1 | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | www.openwall.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:9556 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8357 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-9050 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/10/25/1 | [email protected] | www.openwall.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8354 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:9555 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:8352 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/NetworkManager-libreswan/-/commit/dcf8acfb25bd31e4b8cbd... | [email protected] | gitlab.gnome.org | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2024-09-19T00:00:00.000Z | Reported to Red Hat. |
| CNA | 2024-10-22T12:00:00.000Z | Made public. |
Workarounds
CNA: A mitigation for this issue is either unavailable or the existing options do not meet Red Hat Product Security's standards for ease of use, deployment, widespread applicability, or stability. One potential approach is to prevent local users from controlling networking through polkit. However, this would also block them from connecting to new Wi-Fi networks, which is not ideal for laptops but might be acceptable for workstations. Server customers typically don't need to be concerned, as they generally don't have local users capable of exploiting the bug.