Ubuntu 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS : GRUB 2 vulnerabilities (USN-4992-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 150867

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-4992-1 advisory.

- A flaw was found in grub2 in versions prior to 2.06, where it incorrectly enables the usage of the ACPI command when Secure Boot is enabled. This flaw allows an attacker with privileged access to craft a Secondary System Description Table (SSDT) containing code to overwrite the Linux kernel lockdown variable content directly into memory. The table is further loaded and executed by the kernel, defeating its Secure Boot lockdown and allowing the attacker to load unsigned code. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity, as well as system availability. (CVE-2020-14372)

- A flaw was found in grub2 in versions prior to 2.06. The rmmod implementation allows the unloading of a module used as a dependency without checking if any other dependent module is still loaded leading to a use-after-free scenario. This could allow arbitrary code to be executed or a bypass of Secure Boot protections. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability. (CVE-2020-25632)

- A flaw was found in grub2 in versions prior to 2.06. Variable names present are expanded in the supplied command line into their corresponding variable contents, using a 1kB stack buffer for temporary storage, without sufficient bounds checking. If the function is called with a command line that references a variable with a sufficiently large payload, it is possible to overflow the stack buffer, corrupt the stack frame and control execution which could also circumvent Secure Boot protections. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
(CVE-2020-27749)

- A flaw was found in grub2 in versions prior to 2.06. The cutmem command does not honor secure boot locking allowing an privileged attacker to remove address ranges from memory creating an opportunity to circumvent SecureBoot protections after proper triage about grub's memory layout. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability. (CVE-2020-27779)

- A flaw was found in grub2 in versions prior to 2.06. The option parser allows an attacker to write past the end of a heap-allocated buffer by calling certain commands with a large number of specific short forms of options. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability. (CVE-2021-20225)

- A flaw was found in grub2 in versions prior to 2.06. Setparam_prefix() in the menu rendering code performs a length calculation on the assumption that expressing a quoted single quote will require 3 characters, while it actually requires 4 characters which allows an attacker to corrupt memory by one byte for each quote in the input. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability. (CVE-2021-20233)

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4992-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 150867

File Name: ubuntu_USN-4992-1.nasl

Version: 1.4

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 6/18/2021

Updated: 10/16/2023

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: High

Score: 8.1

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 5.6

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-20233

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.2

Temporal Score: 7.4

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:grub-efi-amd64, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:grub-efi-amd64-bin, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:grub-efi-amd64-signed, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:grub-efi-arm64, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:grub-efi-arm64-bin, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:grub-efi-arm64-signed

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Debian/dpkg-l, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 6/18/2021

Vulnerability Publication Date: 7/30/2020

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2020-14372, CVE-2020-25632, CVE-2020-27749, CVE-2020-27779, CVE-2021-20225, CVE-2021-20233

IAVA: 2020-A-0349

USN: 4992-1