Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Linux Kernel allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does that mean for this vulnerability? Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to win a race condition. What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges. What do I have to do to protect myself from this vulnerability? To help protect your systems from this vulnerability, update your Linux kernel to a version that includes the upstream fix for this issue. The fix has already been accepted upstream and will be included in newer kernel releases. If your environment uses a Linux distribution that has not yet incorporated the updated kernel version, you should monitor your distribution vendor’s security advisories and apply the appropriate security update as soon as it becomes available. Some distributions may release the fix immediately through security updates, while others may include it in a future kernel package or maintenance release. Organizations that maintain custom kernels or remain on older kernel branches may need to manually backport or apply the upstream patch according to their standard patch management and validation processes. As a general best practice, ensure systems are regularly updated with the latest security patches and kernel releases provided by your operating system vendor.
Jonathan Guerin with Microsoft, Vincent Yin with Microsoft