CVE-2020-8016 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2020-8016
Vulnerability Scoring

4.9
/10
Medium Risk

The vulnerability CVE-2020-8016 could compromise system integrity but typically requires user interaction to be exploited.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: High
    Exploits require significant effort and special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Local
    Vulnerability requires local system access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2020-8016 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕠 21 Nov 2024, 05:38 UTC
Originally published on: 🕑 02 Apr 2020, 14:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 1693 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

meissner@suse.de

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

CVE-2020-8016 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2020-8016: A Race Condition Enabling Link Following vulnerability in the packaging of texlive-filesystem of SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15-SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP5; openSUSE Leap 15.1 allows local users to corrupt files or potentially escalate privileges. This issue affects: SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15-SP1 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2017.135-9.5.1. SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP4 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2013.74-16.5.1. SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP5 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2013.74-16.5.1. openSUSE Leap 15.1 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2017.135-lp151.8.3.1.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2020-8016

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2020-8016 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2020-8016

CVE-2020-8016 presents a challenge to exploit due to its high attack complexity, but the absence of privilege requirements still makes it a viable target for skilled attackers. A thorough security review is advised.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2020-8016, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2020-8016, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: Low
    CVE-2020-8016 could lead to minor leaks of non-critical information without major privacy breaches.
  • Integrity: Low
    Exploiting CVE-2020-8016 may cause minor changes to data without severely impacting its accuracy.
  • Availability: Low
    CVE-2020-8016 may slightly degrade system performance without fully affecting service availability.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.042% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 5.02% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 94.98% of others.

CVE-2020-8016 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-367

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links CAPEC-27 This attack leverages the use of symbolic links (Symlinks) in order to write to sensitive files. An attacker can create a Symlink link to a target file not otherwise accessible to them. When the privileged program tries to create a temporary file with the same name as the Symlink link, it will actually write to the target file pointed to by the attackers' Symlink link. If the attacker can insert malicious content in the temporary file they will be writing to the sensitive file by using the Symlink. The race occurs because the system checks if the temporary file exists, then creates the file. The attacker would typically create the Symlink during the interval between the check and the creation of the temporary file.
  • Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions CAPEC-29 This attack targets a race condition occurring between the time of check (state) for a resource and the time of use of a resource. A typical example is file access. The adversary can leverage a file access race condition by "running the race", meaning that they would modify the resource between the first time the target program accesses the file and the time the target program uses the file. During that period of time, the adversary could replace or modify the file, causing the application to behave unexpectedly.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:2013.74-16.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:2013.74-16.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:15:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:15:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12:sp5:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12:sp5:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:15:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:15:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:2017.135-9.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:2017.135-9.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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