Used in attacks· fix by 2022-07-187.8HighUsed by ransomware gangs
Red Hat Polkit
CVE-2021-4034
The Red Hat polkit pkexec utility contains an out-of-bounds read and write vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation with administrative rights.
What this means for your business
- It affects Red Hat Polkit. It matters if your company, or a supplier that handles your data, runs it.
- Attackers are already using it. CISA added it to its list of flaws used in real attacks on 27 June 2022.
- Ransomware gangs are known to have used it.
- An attacker can use it only with access to the machine itself, with an ordinary user login, and without anyone at your company clicking anything.
- FIRST's prediction model gives it a 95% chance of attack attempts being seen in the next 30 days, ranking above 99% of all known flaws.
What to do
- 1Check whether your company or your suppliers run Red Hat Polkit, and which version. The affected versions are listed further down this page.
- 2If you do, apply the vendor's fix. A patch or vendor advisory has been published.
- 3Treat it as urgent. US federal agencies must fix it by 18 July 2022. That deadline does not apply to private companies, but it shows how seriously CISA takes it.
- 4Because attackers have used it, check the affected systems for signs of a break-in, not only for the update.
Not sure if your company is exposed?
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Required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
CISA’s wording, unedited.
Scoring
- CVSS
- 7.8 (v3.1)
- Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Weakness
- CWE-787
- Assigned by
- secalert@redhat.com
Dates
- Published
- 2022-06-27
- Last modified
- 2026-08-15
- Added to KEV
- 2022-06-27
- Remediation due
- 2022-07-18
- Sources
- CISA KEV, NVD
Affected products
- Polkit Project Polkit- 121
- Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Update Services For Sap Solutions7.6, 7.7, 8.1, 8.2, 8.4
- Redhat Enterprise Linux8.0
- Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop7.0
- Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus8.2
- Redhat Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z Systems7.0, 8.0
- Redhat Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z Systems Eus8.2, 8.4
- Redhat Enterprise Linux For Power Big Endian7.0
- Redhat Enterprise Linux For Power Little Endian7.0, 8.0
- Redhat Enterprise Linux For Power Little Endian Eus8.1, 8.2, 8.4
- Redhat Enterprise Linux For Scientific Computing7.0
- Redhat Enterprise Linux Server6.0, 7.0
As listed in the NVD configuration data. Not a statement about your estate.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166196/Polkit-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166200/Polkit-pkexec-Privilege-Escalation.html
- https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/RHSB-2022-001
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2025869
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-330556.pdf
- https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/polkit/polkit/-/commit/a2bf5c9c83b6ae46cbd5c779d3055bff81ded683
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- https://www.qualys.com/2022/01/25/cve-2021-4034/pwnkit.txt
- https://www.secpod.com/blog/local-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-major-linux-distributions-cve-2021-4034/
- https://www.starwindsoftware.com/security/sw-20220818-0001/
- https://www.suse.com/support/kb/doc/?id=000020564