char *lower = "/tmp/lower"; char *upper = "/tmp/upper"; char *work = "/tmp/work"; char *merged = "/tmp/merged"; mkdir(lower, 0777); mkdir(upper, 0777); mkdir(work, 0777); mkdir(merged, 0777); Inside the lower directory, the exploit creates a dummy file that it will later try to replace.
// Create a file we own int fd = open("lower/file", O_CREAT | O_RDWR, 0777); write(fd, "AAAA", 4); close(fd); This is the magic trick. The exploit mounts an overlay filesystem where lower is read-only (where the target file lives) and upper is writable (where changes go). linux 3.13.0-32-generic exploit
This output tells the attacker that the system has against a family of race condition bugs in the Overlay Filesystem. The Vulnerability: CVE-2015-1328 (Overlayfs) The 3.13.0 kernel introduced Overlayfs as a union filesystem. It allows one directory (lower) to be overlaid on top of another (upper) to create a merged view. Docker uses similar concepts. char *lower = "/tmp/lower"; char *upper = "/tmp/upper";
For penetration testers: Enjoy the easy win, but document it thoroughly. A root shell via a 9-year-old bug is a clear sign of a broken patch management policy. This output tells the attacker that the system
This particular kernel version is iconic for a specific reason: it is the default generic kernel for (released April 2014). While ancient today, this kernel represents a golden era for privilege escalation (Local Privilege Escalation - LPE) research. For penetration testers and red teamers, finding this kernel on a target in 2024 is a "sure win." For blue teams, understanding why it is vulnerable is a masterclass in kernel security.
char opts[256]; snprintf(opts, sizeof(opts), "lowerdir=%s,upperdir=%s,workdir=%s", lower, upper, work); mount("overlay", merged, "overlayfs", 0, opts); Now, inside /tmp/merged , the file file appears. If you edit it, the changes actually go to /tmp/upper/file . This is where the exploit deviates from normal behavior. The attacker creates a second thread. Thread A tries to rename the file from the overlay to a protected location (e.g., /etc/cron.d/exploit ). Thread B constantly churns the filesystem by creating and deleting files in the upper directory.
uname -a Linux target 3.13.0-32-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jul 15 03:51:08 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux cat /etc/issue Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS \n \l